RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block Raptor and Ameristar: RESIDENCE EVIL

This story takes place right after HR ISSUE 10

A day has passed since the storm hit the island. There is havoc everywhere, the Complex is half destroyed, Danny is in bad shape, the hovercraft is crashed, and everyone has his scars.

There is a lot of work to do everywhere, people to help, damages to repair.

But I have a priority, and Ameristar is here with me, to help.

There is my UFO damaged on the beach, and we have to hide it before people come and questions begin.

“Jackie, you say you know this technology?”

“Sure. It’s the same kind of tech from which the Gaia Unit derives. Hoods technology”.

“Oh. Always the Hoods…”

“They taught science and technology to humans in the first place… Well, not exactly the Hoods, but the aliens whose interests they represents…”

“So, aliens area realities…”

“For what I know, many species of aliens are on Earth… but I should ask the Old Man what I can reveal to you, before I talk. After all, you refused to be one of us…”

“Right. But you have still to reveal why you came here yesterday right in the middle of the storm…”

“I came to help… and looking at this, I came at the right time.” Her eyes are fixed over the sword, that hang from my back, inside a makeshift scabbard.

“Looking at my sword? Do you know something about it?”

“I was talking about the UFO.”

“Ah.”

The UFO is really in bad shape. Its metal, who always looked like a living tissue, shining and glowing and liquid, now seems scrap tin.

Ameristar looks around the vessel. She touches some of the controls, and then she has success into opening a secret door on the pavement. “I think we can salvages only the engine”.

“And what use it would be?”

“We can put it on the hovercraft. It would be more useful than an UFO that can transport only five persons”.

“And you would be able to adapt it?”

“Well, I have the plans. I am sure Quantos, Chance and maybe Montag can work over they”.

“Mhh… if only Kristogar Velo would still be here…” I whisper.

Ameristar is working with her lasers to separate the engine. It takes only a few minutes. Then, she throws the rest of the UFO in the Ocean. Then, she takes the engine, and disappear, teleporting herself back to the headquarter, where the others are making plans.

It’s when she has gone, that a tall man from the far side of the beach comes walking toward me.

He waves his hand.

Who is him? A friend?

When he is one hundred metres and fifty from my position, my eagle sight recognize him.

I have met him, or just others like him, more than one time, during my escape.

Platinum blonde, square jawed, steel muscles.

A Georgio!

Georgio realises that walking up to such a dangerous man as Edulcore could be suicide, but the risk was worth it.
After all, the futurists that had been sighted on the island where still alive so that must mean there was still a chance to recruit him.

Edulcore decides to not panic but face the man on his own terms. So raising his sword, he walks out of the UFO and stops just outside the entrance.

Georgio raises his hands and says,
"Don´t worry man. I come in peace...this time." he shows a clean shiny row of teeth. "I have come to plead for your wisdom and participation in the greatest endeavor in humanitys history."

"Ahaa...and what exactly is that. Tell me."
"Simple, the end of all wars and unjustified struggles that your people seem to never get on top off." He sits down on a small beach folding-chair. "I come with the offer of realising your dreams, Edulcore...or should I call you Eurostar or Raptor? What kind of a name is that anyway?"

Edulcore glared at him.
"Okay. okay. no need to get hostal here man. just relax and listen."
Suspiscion and paranoia wich the sword magnified, made edulcore a bit more on edge than usual...
What was it about this man that scared him so? He didn´t seem that dangerous if you looked at him.
A white tight t-shirt that didn´t reveal any weapons underneath, black shorts and a pair of Nike shoes. His sunglasses were made out of turqouise lenses and silvery frames. Looked very expensive.
Edulcore managed to relax just a bit, but he not enough to put away the sword.
"Okay...I´ll listen."

The Georgio turns around, and looks toward the setting sun.

“You see, Ed, the world is just a playground. For forces beyond your understanding.
What you see… the sky, the beach, the mighty ocean… that’s just the peel. A lovely package that wraps up the true meaning of existence… to not scare human eyes.”

“You came here to sell me this crap?”

“Strange that you dismiss my words so easily. That would be the common man reaction… but you? You have witnessed marvels, Euro. You have fought monsters, demons and aliens. You should know that reality is a lie… a lie created for the family man, to be not scared every time the sun set”.

I stay silent.

“You begin to see the truth? I know the doubt you ever had. I know of your strange dreams. I know of the dwarf. I know everything!”

The dwarf? How can he know…

“I know because I see beyond the curtain, Ed. My eyes are open over the truth. Those little rips in the illusion you know as reality, are the norm for me. And for my fellow associates…

“You mean… those Hoods?”

“Yes, Edulcore. The Hoods. The last hope for humanity.”

“You tried to kill me. And I have seen you die. Two times, at last.”

“Death… Death… Ah, the greatest of all lies”.

“You mean you weren’t trying to kill me?”

“Exactly. I was protecting you. Who killed the whore that was about to poison you in Vegas? I was. And I was also trying to protect you from your father, in Area 51”.

“What do you know about my father?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but your dad was a renegade. He left the Hoods to follow a woman. A witch. A betrayer of humankind. But without that sin, you would have never been born. You that represent the coming of a new age. You that could be the one to tear the veil of falsity with your newfound Claw”.

The sword! That’s what he wants.

“We know the future, Ed. Everyone could do, if not for the lie that is reality. We can. We know that you will bring an era of peace and prosperity. For everyone. Human AND metahuman. You have just to join us. You will be amazed to discover who have joined us before. Even people very close to you. Even one of your team-mates. The Swedish one.”

Chance? Wait… what was Ameristar saying yesterday? Something about Kristofer betraying the MBL?
“You must be with us. You need to be trained. You need to be taught. And… you need to be protected.”

“Protected from?..”

“From the greatest traitors of humankind. From the magic dwellers, the Capes, the ones that wants to put the human genre into chains”.

“Tell me more”.

“They want your sword. They want her for their own schemes. They look for raw power, Edulcore. They eager for magical artefact.”

“And you? Don’t you look for the same?”

“Nooo! You don’t understand, Ed! We look for the man. We look for man. It’s you that we seek. Not magical powers, but pure intelligence. Our ancestors came to Earth Forty thousand years ago to bring Man out of the darkness, teaching him science and technology. They were about to create heaven on Earth. But the darkness fought back, and magic unleashed over the planet.
Magic.
Superstition.
Unmotivated fear.
That’s what the wizards’ gift to Earth.
But your coming can stop this, Edulcore. Your coming could really be the beginning of a new Enlightment for man.”

Too much crap. Yet the man seems sincere. I feel an instinctive confidence in him.

“What should I do?” I say, puzzled.

“Follow me” is his answer.

The snowy moiuntain tops of Austria is a wonder to see.
it´s like a god knew there would be someone here to admire them.
At least this is what Stephan Hannoval thinks. His time at The Castle had been a great strain these past years. The Hoods were on the march, and more metas were showing up in the world everyday.
He sat on his balcony on one of the slender towers facing the Wolfgangsee lakes. The crystal clear blue water almost had a hypnotic clarity to it. Sitting here almost made him feel young again...not the ancient, burdened and grumpy old man that had become.
Being the leader of a world spanning organization had it´s moments, but most of the time it was just trouble...conspiracies here, conspiracies there...which goverment should the endorse? Which goverment should they change? Who should be the president?...Just bothersome trivial matters that had gotten out of hand...their true mission...the safe guarding of this world, was almost forgotten...they were on the brink of becoming the enemy...
This had to change...but first they had to do something about the Hoods...and their blasted Georgios...
They would have to create a counter agent...
His eyes rested on the newspaper and they happened to see a small article about a young man saving a group of children from a blazing fire in America. Apparently he called himself [Hero].
Hmmm corny name...and why use those brackets? But this lad had caught his attention...maybe worth looking into...this man could be what he was looking for.......

There is a red Ferrari parked at the border of the road, just where the beach begins. The Georgio, whatever the name means (the man uses it as his proper name, but I remember Jakie using it like it was referring to a thing, a model of something…), the Georgio opens the doors by his remote.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“You will see, have not fear.”

The sport-car flash past the cost, up on the flank of the volcano, to the other side of the island, across the luscious vegetation of the forest, damaged by the Hurricane of yesterday.

Suddenly, Georgio stops the car in the parking of a big palace, not unlike from our Complex, built on the south facing slope of the volcano. There is a beautiful sight, toward the open sea.

There is a wooden sign, reading “Residence Buena Vista”.

“The volcano has somehow protected this place from the Hurricane, Euro. That’s why me and my… associates… have set shop here. I have rented an apartment all for you… tomorrow one of my superiors will come to talk with you.”

“Maybe I should go back in La Perdita to see if I can salvage some of my robe…”

“I took the liberty of buying you some wardrobe. You have not to worry about anything, Edulcore”.

Georgio walks toward the entrance.

I follow him, my sword over my right shoulder.

The palace, built with a scottish design was rough and bulky, but it still managed to contain a certain mideval beauty that´s captured modern man´s artistic heart many a time.
It´s highest tower rose majestically and the only thing that spoiled the setting was the two satelite dishes on the side of it.

As they stopped outside the entrance a stunning woman, in a long black dress came out and smiled at them.
"<Hello Edulcore, I hope I can call you that?>" She said in fluent Italian.
Taken offguard, all he managed was a simple; "<Hello...ofcourse.>"

She embalmed him again with her smile and offered her hand, which he took in silence. They walked into the large hall of the castle, which was covered with ancient paintings and a long arabian carpet that ended at a huge double door.

With a forgiving look she said; "<I am not allowed in there, but you are expected. No need for alarm, just relax>."
"<Thank you.>" He watched the lovely curves of the woman which were revealed in the flowing dress. Then he steeled himself for what awaited him inside...

The big walls made of stone looks false like Cinderella’s castle in Eurodisney. A big hotel, looking like a medieval castle, built for rich and old tourists from Florida. How ironic it has been chosen by the Hoods, the so called bringer of science.

The mysterious woman disappears beyond the distant corner of a long corridor, and I remain alone, in front of a big wooden and massive door.

After some seconds, that seems an eternity, the door opens, and a butler invite me to enter.

The scene, on the other side of the door, it’s unexpected. I don’t know if I have to laugh, or to be scared.

There is an ample room, the window are closed by heavy curtains, and only hundreds of candles lit the place. At the centre there is a round table, and around it sit twelve people, covered by dark purple mantles with hoods, their faces shadowed.

That’s why they call themselves hoods, so. The situation seems a joke. Now someone will shout: “You are on Candid Camera!”

But the chilling atmosphere bring me back to reality. These men, from what I have seen from their Georgio (or Georgios?) are dangerous people.

“Mr. Cicciotto, please, take your seat. We are very pleased you have accepted to join us”.

Join? “Sirs, I have come out of curiosity for what your man has said to me. I am eager to listen to your offer, but only then I will make any choice.”

The same people that talked for first replies: “Sure, Mr. Cicciotto. Please, relax yourself, while we’ll explain you our mission and your possible role in the salvation of the Earth.”

The candles dim at a whisper of the man. On the wall behind him, a big movie screen appears. There is a flickering light, and then the space is filled by images. Three dimensional images.
There are stars… and a spaceship. A spherical shaped spaceship.

“This, Edulcore… can I call you Edulcore?”

I nod, my eyes unable to get away from the vision.

“I was saying, this is the Annunaki earth-ship. A space vessel as big as an asteroid, that was the last home of this dying race, the only survivors of their doomed planet. Forty five thousands years ago, they arrived near the planet Earth, and their ship began orbiting around it.”

As the man talks, things happens in front of me. A big, green planet explodes, the big spherical ship crosses the empty space, and inside the space vessels I see… shapes… moving and producing sounds. It’s something totally different from anything I could have ever imagined. Nothing in common with man, yet beautiful and… right in their own sense.

“What the Annunaki found was a planet full of life. Even intelligent life of many species. Three species. One in Africa, the one your scientist call now Homo sapiens, your direct ancestors …” and I see tall, black men hunting lions in the savannah…

“…one in Europe, the Homo neanderthalensis…” in snow covered steppes short, heavy pale white men with big, bony eyebrows and very big, fat noses, dressed with bear furs, hunts mammuths…

“…and a third in the forests of Asia, the ancient Homo erectus.” And I see furry, slim men, very ape like, building nests made of leaves on the lower branches of a large tree.

“The Annunaki found that the Earth was a lovely place, and so left the spaceship and descended over the Earth. They began building a city worthy of themselves. But they needed help, because they were few, and so they made their first gift to humanity: they took the Homo sapiens and enhanced him, giving him the intelligence and the language. And then, for more than thirty thousand years, the Annunaki helped the new, advanced man to grow, teaching him technology, art and science. Mathematic, astronomy, music… domesticating animals, creating agriculture…”

In front of me, the evolution of the human culture during prehistory unfolds, and actual men and women appears hunting, gathering seeds, raising animals, and making incredible paintings on the walls of caverns. And, every now and then, in the distance appears a big, fairy city, with tall, transparent towers.

“Sadly, so many gifts were not enough for a part of the human population. A few renegades left the city, and joined the sub-humans. They learned the only art the savages discovered… magic. And they made a pact with the powers of the Underworld, and finally attacked the city of the Basilisks, more than twelve thousands years ago. It was the end of the Age of Gold. The world fell back in the darkness.
Luckily, the teachings of the Annunaki were not forgotten. The descendant of the blessed aliens, and of their creations survived, and created a secret society, to enlighten the humankind. And that is what the Hoods are doing since then. Working to free the Earth from the evilness of the Futurists, the accursed capes, the ones that want to keep Man slaved, enchained in superstitions and fears.
But be warned. What I called magic, it’s not what you think. It’s not an art in the common sense. In fact, it doesn’t exist. It is just illusion. What the renegades discovered, was a gate to the Underworld. And the Underworld is not a mystic realm. It’s just a dimension, inhabited by powerful beings, yes, but not demons in the religious sense. What they gave the renegades, was the means to channel they toughs in the minds of their opponents. And that’s what is magic. Just the ability of making the brain of another person experiencing things that doesn’t exist. Vivid, realistic experience, to the point of making that person die. But false, nevertheless.
We have followed you, Edulcore.
Since your birth.
You are the son of two renegades, a Hood and a Cape, yet you bear great powers.
We know your struggle to free the metahuman world.
You have failed because, until now, you didn’t have the right companions. Join us, and we’ll free not only the metahumans, but ALL the humans. And the Age of Gold will be reborn”

The candles lit up, all by themselves, one after another.

The Hoods that was talking, stand up, and offers me his hands to shake.

I firmly grab Ladnikia.

“Sir, your words are appalling. Yet, I need time to decide. And I need answers”.

The man sits back. “Ask, Edulcore”.
“I have seen things that are not easy to take as creations of my own mind. Thousands of people mindwiped by a demon-monster. A giant beast on the beach just yesterday. Vampires…”

“I understand your gripe. But that’s just what we want to fight. The curtain of lie created by the Futurists. Plagues, genetic alterations, products of the metagene… all things that science can explains… but that the Capes manages to hide under the mist of their so called magic. That’s why we need you, Raptor. You and your claw are the only way to shred it.”

Make sense. Walker was experimenting with that black fluid… that was found in the survivors of the plague… could it be that all is explainable?

“Another question. Your Georgio said something about the dwarf that I keep dreaming about. How can he know? And what do you know about it?”

“Ah, the Dark Dwarf. It’s bio-software, Edulcore. It was planted by your father in your brain just after your birth. Its duty is to help you in making choices. If fully implemented, it should be a voice in your head. It’s something we are working on these times, and it will take many years to be fully developed. Your father decided to experiment on you a beta… well, make it an alpha… version, because he though it would have been important for you. But it seems that he is able to reach your mind only when you are sleeping”.

A voice in my head? Just like Danny and his Hal. It will takes many years to be fully developed? And Danny comes from the future… uhmm…

“Have you more questions?”

“No, I just need time to think:”

“Very well. You can go. In the corridor Demeter, the woman you met before, is awaiting you. She will be your host in the castle. She will be with you for the dinner, and then will show you your room. I hope this night will be sufficient for you to take your decision.”

The room was magnificent, with it´s huge double bed with angelic patterns on it´s clothbound roof and curtains.
Ancient paintings of landscapes covered the white lumber enhanced walls. The window showed a view of the forest that grew on the side of the snowy mountain.
A small basin to wash his hands and a typical victorian desk to sit down and write letters or powder your nose made the room feel almost cozy.
Fake gaslight bulbs decorated the corners of the room.

Demeter smiled.
"I see you like it. Shall I order some tea for you, or do you want to see the rest of the castle?"

"Please, show me the rest. This must be expensive. But I wish my friends could live in a house like this."

"Ah, yes...your fellow...what did you call yourselves...investigators?"
"Yes, well we are more problem solvers than anything else..."
"I see...maybe they would be open for suggestions as well?"
"I don´t think that..."

As she led him out into the corridor again she interupted him with...
"Don´t worry, just relax now Mr Edulcore. You are among friends here."

Was he? He wasn´t so sure about that. But al least listening couldn´t do any harm. If not he would at least have more information about them than before.
*************

outside a limousine and two following cars parked by the entrance and three people in italian made suits walked out.
One of them, a bald man with a patch on his left eye, smiled.

"Hmmmm...the fresh air reminds me of home...I wonder what that old fool Stephan has in mind this time? Maybe a cease fire in the Middle East?" he laughed.
Politely, so did the others.
Tobias Cracken enjoyed these little fencing sessions with his ancient foe...maybe it was time to be more diplomatic with him...afterall...the Game was getting a bit tiresome...
**************

Far far away in the depths of space a flottilla od ships were centered around a gas giant. It´s green-blue atmosphere was breathtaking...even to the hard drilled officers of the scout-ship [Seela].

Captain Ekorre was having a hard time with this mission...following a escaped prison transport was tiring stuff. especially when they had managed to give him the slip...in what appeared to be a inhospitable gas giant.
He banged his fist against his console. Where were they? It was impossible to fly into that atmosphere...they should have been crushed instantly...

A officer came up to him.
"Captain...We have some news."
"Yes?"
"There seems to be something down there that is radiating a neutrino field.".......

The woman fit around myself like a velvet glove. Warm and wet, like the forest outside the residence.

She works over me, up and down slowly, smiling at me, her long red hairs covering her rounded breasts. Her hands on my hands, like to stop my urge to touch, to feel Ladnikia, that rests in the scabbard near the bed.

After she showed me the building, she brought me to the dining room, a big veranda, a winter garden full of greenery and with big windows overlooking the Ocean. There we ate, in complete silence, there were only the songs of the many birds resting in the vegetation.

Then, as the sun went down, and we ended our meal, she brought me here, in my appointed room.

She slowly undressed, revealing her beautiful body, and took me to the bed. In the last few hours we have been making love. Not a word was spoken.

As we both took our pleasure for the umpteenth time, the darkness of the night sky outside the window is broken by the lights of a car arriving in the parking of the hotel.

“They have arrived”, she whispers. She get off the bed, and, naked, goes to the window. I follow her. There is an old limousine, of the 1930s maybe, stopping in front of the main gate of the castle. A few butlers step out to takes the luggage. The occupants of the limousine, under the moon lights, appears to be dressed in seventeen century robes. And they sports long, blue capes.

“Who are they?” I ask.

“Futurists” she answers. “You will meet them tomorrow”.

In front of me, at the same table where yesterday sat the council of the Hoods, are the so called Futurists, or, as I heard about them some times, the Capes.

They garbs are not very different, this ones seems more inclined to bright colours. And, of course, these ones don’t hide their faces.

The one that is sitting right in front of me is old, with a long white beard. Like a Gandalf who tries to adjust to the XXI century. And that fails. The others are very similar, all looking slightly outside our time, whether they are old or they are young. There are no women.

The one that seems to be the leader stands up, and with a broad smile offer me his hand to shake. I notice that an old man, three seats on his right, looks very suspiciously at me.

“I prefer not to greet you, for now. I didn’t with your… opposites… yesterday, it’s fair I keep my reserves even for you.” At my words, the suspicious man smiles triumphant to the leader.

“As you prefer, says the man. I don’t know what the Hood has said to you yesterday, but be warned, Mr. Cicciotto: they are all lies. The Hoods keeps lying to humanity since their race fell from Heaven and set roots on Earth. So, allow me to show the truth.”

At his words, the curtains run on their rails by themselves, and in the obscured room, I see glowing bubbles coming out of the mouth of the man. The bubbles enlarges, and inside them appears images. And the images speak for the man.

“Forty five thousands years ago, it happened that a host of heavenly angels, led by Shemyaza, one of the greatest among the son of the Light, choose to descend on Earth, challenging the prohibition of the demiurge, to take wives from among the mortal kind. They created a marvellous metropolis, that resembled the Silver City of Heaven, and populated it with their offspring; they were called Nephilim, those who have fallen .
They took humans as slaves, to build the city and to serve them. But their slavery was very smart, they didn’t use chains, they used gifts to capture human’s mind and hearts, and subjugate them.
One of the angels leader, Azazel, taught man to make swords and knives, and the art of metals. To the women, he taught the art of using all kinds of costly stones and colouring tinctures to beautifying themselves.
Others instructed men into astronomy, meteorology, geodesy, and all the form of sciences, and also the first form of writings.” The images in the bubbles are outstanding, and the angels shines in their majestic beauty.

“But not all men where enchanted by those gift. The hunters of the iced north did not fell for Azazel’s gifts. They sent their shamans in the spirit land, to ask for help and counsels. And the spirits of the ancestors gave them the supreme power: magic. They taught the shamans the way to warp reality, to opens the gates to the distant realms, to defy life and death.
They were the firsts of our kind. They believed in a brighter future for Man, and took the name Futurists. And they were able to destroy the accursed city of the Nephilim. But some of them survived, and wandered all over the Earth teaching their fool, diabolical arts. And along the centuries, there have been times were they prevailed, gaining near complete victory over us, when the whole humankind choose to follow their scientific teaching; but every time they were about to win, we have stopped those dark days, bringing back the supremacy of nature and of magic. Just like now, Mr. Cicciotto. After nearly three hundreds years of “enlightenment”, of blind confidence in science and technology, the Hood’s star is beginning to shine less and less. The age of Aquarius is about to start, and it will wipe away the Nephilim’s doings.
That’s why they want to enlist you, Mr. Cicciotto. You have the powers… and the means…” and he looks directly at Ladninkia… “to shred the clouding curtain that the Hoods have wrapped over humanity… the deceiving Matrix that fog the mind of humankind”.

I raise Ladnikia. “This would be the means? And what are the powers you are talking? I got only the feathers, now.”

The bubbles disappears, the curtains runs back, and the tropical sun gets inside the room. The man sits.

“The powers we are talking are not the metagene induced. To tell the truth, the metagene is a fake. It’s part of the fake Matrix induced reality that you humans perceive. No, powers, like many your friends sports, and even your own, are true, but magic induced. And you… you, the son of one of the powerful witches ever born… could dominate magic like never one before you did… you need to be taught… you need to study the ancient text… you need teachers of the highest calibre… like Vadritius or Aurochs here…” and he points to two of his acolytes, one oriental type, and the other the old one that looked at me suspiciously before.

“As for Ladnikia, we know it very well. It was forged by the Lord of the Lies himself, Azazel, when it was sunk in Hell for his sins. That’s her greatness: it’s a magical artefact built from the Nephilim scientific knowledge. It’s a synthesis of the two forces of the world: magic and science, light and darkness, good and evil… It’s the sign that you are the chosen to free the world from the lies… I know you have a dream, Edulcore… to free the metahumans of the Earth, and have them living in peace among the humans. Join us, and your dream will come true. The whole world will see that the metagene is a lie, and that everybody is equal under the sun.
.
.
.
Your answer?”

Convincing words. Just like the ones I heard yesterday. I need to know more. Form them, and from the Hoods. I need time.

“Just one more question: the Hoods gave me an explanation for some dreams I have since my… well, since what I knew as metagene was unleashed more than a year ago. I keep dreaming of a dark dwarf, talking backwards on a stage…”

The many “capes” looks at each other in disbelieving. The leader broaden his perennial smile.

“I admit I didn’t knew about it. But you must understand that we have ever respected you, while the Hoods have scanned your mind for years, now. The… being… you dream of, is a creation of your mother. She was a valiant alchemist… we had no knowledge of that, but she must have been able to produce the homunculus. The product of the philosophical stone… artificial life… and she has hided it inside you… for you to guide. Join us, and you will be taught to understand his guiding words”.

Another version of the same thing. A guide from dad for the Hoods, a guide from mom for the Capes. What is the truth? What is the lies? And if it was produced by both of them… just like Ladnikia a product of both magic and science? And what if both versions are lies, and the truth is something different, something else? How can I discover the truth?

I stand up. “I need more time, to think about your offer and to decide”.

“Very well. Outside the room, on the corridor there is your host, Demeter. She is the mistress of this neutral place, you can ask her to summon one of us if you need to know more. Obviously, you can ask her to summon one of the Hoods. But, as I explained you, they are the master of lies, since the moment they appeared on Earth”.

I look at the man for a moment, nod in a nearly unnoticeable manner, and exit.

Outside, Demeter is waiting for me. I will ask her to accompany me in the garden… I need time to make up my mind.

It’s warm outside, and very wet. It has rained when I was meeting the Futurists, and now the sun makes the water evaporating, forming clouds that slowly rise along the forested slopes of the mountain, toward the top of the volcano.

Demeter is walking at my said, her eyes wandering over the features of the garden.

“Who are you, Demeter?”

She smiles, and stop by the side of a small pool. She takes a long grass blade, and begins to make circles in the water.

“I am the host of this gathering…”

“You own this place?”

The woman laughs for a moment. “No, this place has been abandoned years ago. It has been readied for this purpose alone, after you have found the sword…”

“What? I have found Ladnikia two days ago! It’s impossible that…”

The woman silences me, putting his index finger over my lips. I kiss it. She smiles.

Then she point the same finger toward the castle. And I see it It’s in ruins. “That’s not possible! I was inside it… it was…”

“An illusion. Like everything else? That’s what both parties affirm, giving the responsibility to each other. Open your eyes, Edulcore.

“Who are you?”

She sighs, takes a full breath, and, turning away from me, whispers: “I am the mate of the Eternal Champion. I am Penelope, Dido, Genevieve, Alda, Deianira, Crimilde and countless others.”

“Wait wait wait… What’s this crap about the Eternal Champion? That ghost said something about… three days ago… when I found Ladnikia… what do you know?”

“What you call crap is your destiny… you are the Hero, across time and space… you have been the Champion of Humankind at every point of the timestream… and you are in each parallel reality. Just as I am your mate everywhere and everywhere… and the being you call the Dark Dwarf is the companion of the Eternal Champion for each of your incarnation… Virgilio, Enkidu, Rinaldus, Moonglow… I could go on forever.”

“I… think I don’t really understand… why I should be this Champion?”

“Oh, that’s not for you to decide. Call it fate, call it doom. You are the point of contact of the two shaping forces of the Universe… science and magic… you were predestined…”

“And you are predestined to be my girlfriend? You know this makes no sense. This is the XXI century…”

“As you said, I am predestined. But not now, not tomorrow. One day, when you’ll have forgotten about me… that will be the day. Today, I am here to host this nexus place… only I can sustain this neutral ground… I, that am the counterpart of you… the yang of your yin…”

“And Ladnikia? What’s her role in this? Why it was on the island?”

“The Champion has his Weapon. Durendal, Excalibur, Mjolnir, Stormbringer…”

“Yes, yes, I got it… what I want to know is if I found it because what I am, or the reverse… If I become this eternal Champion because I found it.”

“You are the Champion for right of your birth. Ladnikia is your Weapon… but it could have been a different blade. Or any other weapon. In fact, the appearance of Ladnikia here has been a surprise. But this is a strange time. The future has been erased just a few months ago. All the futures. Now it’s slowly rebuilding itself, in it’s many ramifications… but one path, the most disturbing one, seems very strong. It’s what the Hoods are trying to secure, and what the futurists are determined to avoid. I am sorry I can’t give anything more away… but it’s your freedom to make the choice, and make the first step along the path.”

“You are trying to say that from my decision depends the destiny of the planet?”

“Maybe not the planet… but surely the humankind”.

“How can I decide?”

“I can’t help you… but before, you have to listen to a third party… the old Neanderthal is waiting for you in the Castle.”

[ 02-19-2003, 08:34 PM: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]

Eyes of the ages...the everlasting memories of past deeds...some good, but a lot of them terrible...all in the name of freedom.

Ha! What is freedom anyway? Freedom to make war on your neighbour? Freedom to kill for love? Freedom to go to work, day after relentless day?

These thoughts wheighed heavily on the old pale man.
His thick brow was wrinkled in a everlasting frown that seemed to make people he (rarely) met back away...thinking that their mere prescense had somehow offended him.

So, this was the annual gathering...the gathering of mad men...the gathering of would-be world dominators. Nothing was outside their grasp. All political events were influenced by these powerfull factions, and they wanted more.
The ultimate goal of the Futurists was obvious, but the Hoods had plans within plans...even though he had followed their progress through time eternal as long as they had been here, he didn´t have an inkling to their ultimate goal.
Why had they come here in the first place? And why, with their superior technology hadn´t they taken possession of the world when they arrived those thousands of years ago?

He was determined to at least get some of the truth this time. No matter the cost.

I am standing in front of the old Neanderthal. He is sitting on a chair in the same room where I met both the Hoods and the capes.

A simply chair, yet it’s like a throne, under his imposing presence. Like the people I met before, he too dresses in a strange, historical outfit, but I am not able to recognize it. Very ancient, Sumerian, maybe, or even older. At his sides stands Crasher and Ameristar, like guards. They too are not dressed in their traditional outfits, the armour for Jakie and the shorts with the red boots for the other girl. Instead, they have complex garbs, quite transparent, probably from the same period from which the Neanderthal man’s wear comes.

Only four days have passed since I met his in Paris. Evidently my finding of Ladnikia has changed things even for him.

“I have not fancy videos to show you, Eurostar. I will be straight, I have told you the truth before. I am here just to beg you not to ally with any of the two parties, and to come to my side, for the better for humankind.”

Truth. A word so abused in this place. “Hoods and Capes have told me very different stories. But both a lot more detailed than your own. I would like to understand. Tell me YOUR truth about the beginnings, especially where you fit in the scheme:”

The Neanderthal stands up from the chair, and goes to the window. His eyes look at the distant horizon. “What they have told you is THE truth, from their own point of view. The Hoods are aliens, just like they said you. And the Futurists really masters magic, like they said. Each other negates the others, and claims there is a matrix, or a spell, that fogs the minds of humankind. That’s not true. They can’t accept each other reality, because that would cancel their idea of knowing the absolute truth.”

The man whispers. “As for the beginning, the Annunaki landed on Earth a the beginning of Middle Paleolithic, when the ancestors of your species roams the savannahs of Africa, the last of the “erectus” where living in the jungles of Asia, and my species dominated Europe. It was indeed the age of Gold. No wars, no hate. It was Eden, men of any species were living in accordance with Nature. The Annunaki arrived and set foot on Earth. But they were few, so they needed slaves. Human slaves. And to make sure they wouldn’t rebel, they… mutated them… genetically altering the African men, your ancestors, to suit their needs. We Neanderthal were not suitable for the experiment, because our brain was… different… We had something in our physiology that the Annunaki feared… and they slaughtered all of our species. I was the only one to survive; I swore that I would have avenged my own kind, and so I battled them throughout time, thanks to my gift: immortality.”

“What about the capes?”

“They were my fist attempt into fighting the Annunaki. I undid their creation. Thanks to my power, I stole knowledge from the “gods”, and began wandering across the world, to give freedom to Man.
And soon Man rebelled to the gods. I thought the way of magic, that was the art of our kind. It took millennia, but in the end, 13 thousands years ago, the citadel of the Annuanki was destroyed. There were… nuclear explosions… and the Earth was shaken. There were catastrophes… floods, earthquakes… in the end, the Annunaki were nowhere to be found. But their acolytes survived, and soon began their struggle to recreate the lost civilization. And the futurists were there, to fight them. And I, hiding in the shadow, to held both in check, so that humankind would never be enslaved again.”
“Yes, just like you told me the other day, in Paris. Why are you here, now. I told you then, that I have no interest into joining you…”

“I know. But when I heard about this meeting, I couldn’t risk of having you to ally with one of the parties. They talk of freedom, but what they want is reshaping Earth into their own image.”

“While you are so noble to fight just for the freedom of Man. Can I ask you just why? You are the first man in this Universe that has not his own motivations and agendas. Or at last that’s what you want that I think.”

The old man smile. “I lost everything. There is no one of my kind left. And I can’t die, so I can’t reunite with them. What I should need? Money, jewels, women…? I lost interest, if ever I had, into things, so many millennia ago.”

Mhhh… Seems sincere. “What do you know about Ladnikia, the crap about the Eternal Champion and the Dark Dwarf?”

“About Ladnikia, what I can say is that I don’t like the fact that it has appeared now. You see, the future has been altered a few months ago, just after you “died” in Mandelovia. All the predicted paths have been wiped out, and since then, new ones have been slowly reformed. And they all look dire. You are the key to most of these paths, mainly because of your upbringing… Ladnikia is a factor that makes less predictable any development of the future. I know her from many realities… and never she has brought luck to her “owner”. But I can’t ask you to destroy her. You are tied to her, now. As for the Champion, I knew all along. That’s why I asked you to join me, just as I asked the Champion to be my ally in each of his incarnation trough time. What surprises me is that Ladnikia, in this reality, is the sword of the Champion. She has always been the Death of the Champion, the weapon that has caused the end of each incarnation… minus in a Universe that has ended defying the profecy about his Ragnarock… but that’s another story. What I suspect… what I fear… is that Ladnikia in your hand will create some problems in the space-time continuum… but knowing about your past with the Time Trust android… maybe it has been taken into consideration…Lastly, about your dreams… I believe they are just that. Dreams. And the strange little man that inhabits them, it’s just the shadow of a died, but not forgotten universe. Maybe the first of the problems I am expecting.”

Hypothesis… thoughts… ideas… I am looking for truth set in stone, all I get is words.

“I can’t give you an answer right now. I have to think. I concede you that you win my trust before… and Jackie has saved my life… but the Hoods and the Futurists had their point, too. And they promised me things I can’t pass on so easily… although I am suspicious, even before your words. We’ll speak later”.

“Fair. Just remember that the two parties wants your powers, your birthrights or your sword… only I came to ask for you:”

Words.

I slightly nod my head in sign of respect, and left the room. This time Demeter is not around, I go straight to my room. I need a shower, the tropical warm is something I am not used to. I undress and get inside the shower box.

Water.

Cold and refreshing.

Steps. So softly on the pavement. But my eagle hears get them.

I open the door. Ladnikia’s tip runs at the throat of the intruder.

A woman.

Oriental eyes, long black hairs.

Sensual lips, painted of a fluorescent glossy pink.

I know this woman.

She was the one to get me the Gaia Unit to escape the EPS.

What was her name?

“Nadia” whispers the woman softly. She smiles.

I lower the sword.

“You are with the old man, right?” I ask.

“Not anymore”.

“Why you are here?”

“For that” and she points to Ladnikia.

“You want my sword?”

“It’s not your, and it’s not a true sword. It’s something different… something more. Something that is destined to me”.

I laugh. “You are the first that claims it was not for me to find. And I have met many, in lass than two days. Ghosts, aliens, magician, spirits and immortals. All saying I am the eternal Champion”.

“I don’t negate it, Euro. Just, I am it, too. I am you. The yourself of a different reality. But I am the one to deserve Ladnikia. Your weapon is different, you will find in time. Give me the sword, now that you are still in time to save yourself”.

“Ah. To listen to the Neanderthal, Ladnikia should not be the weapon of any incarnation of the Eternal Champion… minus one, he said. Was he talking about you?”

“No, he was talking about Nemo… the man of a died Universe. But he had to give an hand for the sword… and so he never touched her, handling the sword by a strangely shaped hook… he actually mastered the sword, and not the reverse, like any other bearer of Ladnikia. I deserve it because I had it since the first moment I arrived in this reality. It subdued me, like any other… I am now prepared. While you will become her slave in no time, Euro… GIVE HER TO ME!”

“No way, Lady. I feel a bound… she’s the claw this eagle needs.”

“Hand me her just a moment…”

“I don’t think…”

“Just let me touch the hilt…”

“Noo no.”

She put forward her hand, but Ladnikia jumps away, rotating and pointing toward her chest. She jumps back, landing over the open window. “I never though it could be late after just a day. You are her slave, don’t you see?”

I stand silent.

She looks outside the window. “I will try to help you. Just don’t side with anybody, Ed. Even with the old man. There are things that don’t looks right, with him…”

Words.

So many words.

“Tell me more”.

“I have not time. It’s just something that was happening in my universe, before my travel. And that began to appearing here, too. Have you read any newspaper lately? The little pieces about strange things? Whole Norway and Inuit villages gone missing… penguins disappearing?”

“Yes, actually I read something. What’s that about?”

“I don’t know. But I have seen… things… in Heligoland, at the old man mansion… that are related to that. And he was gathering information about the EPS… don’t you see a path, there, knowing what he is?”

I think for a moment.

Why I should waste time with riddles?

“No, you can tell me”.

She stare at me. “You seems a lot less intelligent than I though. We’ll meet later, man. Remember: Ladnikia is MINE!”

And she jumps down the window. When I look outside, she has disappeared.

Tobias Cracken, Leader of the Hoods, Champion of the Cause, Master Warper and terrific husband to Natalia Cracken, looked on his small portable screen on the office table.

The Castle had many rooms for different purposes...and this one was booked by the Hoods for preparations of speeches and governmental commands.

If that old fool neanderthal Myrrdhin hadn´t stolen their Gaia-Units, they could have come here with some dignity...instead they had to use...automobiles...cars. How confining.
If only the plans for those Units hadn´t been lost in ages past, he would easily had more built...

Tobias Cracken, Leader of the Hoods, Champion of the Cause, Master Warper and terrific husband to Natalia Cracken, never noticed the door open behind him until it was too late...
And the last thing he ever saw was the face of someone he had learned to fear and paradoxially, respect...
"What are you do..."
BANG
******************

Captain Ekorre of the Seela received confirmation to his queries from Highcommand. They were to send a scout ship through the neutrino feild and see where the escaped prisoners had gone to.

He sighed...it was never easy to send troops on missions like these.
Even if they did survive the trip through the neutrino field, they had to rely on themselves to get back.
He considered this...
"Master Warper Craigh...you will be in charge until the time I return. I will pick an away team and persue the filth that killed our wives and beloved leaders."

"But Sir...What should?..."
"My order is given. I can´t send anyone on a mission like this without being a part of it. It´s a dangerous task...and I will not waste my best officers on this."

He stood up and signaled for the others to remain in their seats, and walked of the bridge.

His thought were now focused on gathering the best group he could find amongst his crew without using the officers. He would never let them risk their lives over a group of trash like these terrorists...
They would be hunted down and exterminated without prejudice.

As Nadia as jumped out the window I begin to hear loud noises all over the place.

I open the door of my room, and in the corridor I se people running like mad, toward the stairs and down there. I take Ladnikia from the floor, get dressed and follow the men.

Downstairs, in front of the open door of a room, there is Demeter, looking very worried. There are many Hoods, with angry faces, and some Futurists, looking worried. There are also Ameristar and Crasher, back in their usual costumes.

I join them, and ask what has happened. Ameristar look at me with a serious face: “The leader of the Hoods has been killed. The neutral ground has been violated, we have to discovere what happened, or else it will be all out war over the planet.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Castle is sealed!” announces Demeter. “The Aegigian Field has been activated, and no Gaia Unit or transponder spell will function until new communication. You are asked to come back to your own room, until the investigation will start. Now, please, go”.

Ameristar whispers to me to follow her, but then someone behind me, with a louder voice, says “You, Cicciotto, come with me!” I turn, and…

...a old man, member of the Futurists most likely waves me over to his door.

I walk up to him, thinking it may be a trap. But he smiles and says;

"Come in, come in. We have much to discuss.

The room reminds me of something seen in movies, dark wooden bookshelves, heavy green curtians, a huge desk with a fake gaslight bulb.

He sits down and silently regards me as I cautiously sit down in the opposing chair.

"The internal matters of our organisations isn´t something you should concern yourself with, at this time, my freind. The guards of this place will have everything sorted out and the culprit will be found. In the meantime I must ask you to not interfere with upcoming events in here. You mus..."

"Actually I must nothing. I don´t belong to any of your radical groups...I´m not really sure what it is you´re even doing here.
Something about controlling governments and such, but otherwise I´m actually still in the dark as to your real purpose here. Why are You here?"

"Me, or the organisation?"

"Yes. You. What is you do here.?"

The old man rose to walk around the room while never letting his gaze of me.

"I am what you would call...a judge. In our internal struggles...as all organisations sadly have, I function as the judge in trials and such...I am also an excellent researcher, and what you would call magician...hehe."

"I´m not really sure I beleive in magic." I say to taunt him...maybe he will show me something...reveal a small detail of information that I could use.

"Not many do...and that´s our strength. Nobody beleives in huge world conspiracies to controll governments and events. Which is why both of our groups have been hidden so well in plain sight."

"For several thousand years?"

"Yes, but now things are changing. The uprising of meta humans all over the place is upsetting the status quo. Now both sides seek those who can be used as soldies in our ranks...so to speak. Oh, there has been meta humans since the stone age...but only a very few at any given time...but recently omething must have upset the order of things and beings like yourself are more common."

I shrug and say: "Yes, I´ve noticed."

He looks at me with feirce eyes, and continues;
"There has also been an increase in other-dimensional intrusions...you know a few I beleive...let´s see here."

He took out a small note book which he opened.

"Someone called Mixy, Strongfellow, a recent angelic being which I haven´t been able to get his name yet. And...a little matter of concern to us...your old devil friend Necken."

I rose out of my chair.
"What do you know of him?"

It seems he is situated in the southern polar region. We have a agent there as we speak. She gives us regular reports, about some army building up there. What do you know of this?"

"Nothing." My thoughts go out to my old friend. I knew he was in trouble, but at this time there was nothing I could do...my duties were here...troubled I sat down again.

"Don´t worry Ciocotto. We have sent down a military force that will take care of the problem. But there is something I would like to know?

"Yes?"

"Did you kill Tobias Cracken?"

“Me? That’s ridiculous! I didn’t know that Kraken. Why I should have killed him”

The Futurist looks at me deeply. “Your though are shielded, Cicciotto. Nor my magic, nor the Hoods’ science can read your mind. That’s one of the thing that bothers us. That’s one of the thing that we both can’t explains. It’s a product of your special heritage? It’s your status as the Eternal Champion? We don’t know. That upset us.
Why you should have killed him? From what I know, and that is not much, Kraken was not thrilled… well, he was plainly adverse… to have him joining the Hoods. That’s why they tried to kill you during your escape from the EPS.
You see, the future has been altered… well, it has been destroyed in all of his paths… just mere months ago. Obviously, after it has been cancelled, it just began to rebuild itself from the present. New paths, similar or different from before…
But every paths that has reformed since then, converge in one point, not so may year from now… a path in which you become a world tyrant. There are factions, in both our two organization, that works to avoid that.
But after you gained Ladnikia, that option has faded. Your blade is known to be unstoppable, from every parallel reality in which she exist. Now both our societies want to accomplish it, having you at the head of one of the society. Actually, your coming will be the thing that will secure total and absolute victory to one of our party.
Only fools like Kraken…” the man lower his voice and comes closer to me “…or Aurochs among the Futurists want you dead”.

Words. Like always in this place, so many words.

Tyrant of the world. That’s a joke, I hope.

Aurochs. Where I heard this name?

“If I was the killer, why a gun, and not my blade? And where is the gun?”

“The answer to the –why?- is obvious, Cicciotto. Your blade is unique. The marks she leave are unmistakable. It would have been like you signed the killing. The gun is currently searched by our joined commission. In fact, either a Futurist, a Hood or one of the accursed Neanderthal’s bitches could have it teleported in and then out of the place. If we don’t find it, it’s a point for you, you are the one that less likely could have it disappearing.”

“Are there any other possible subject to be investigated?” I ask.

“You have someone in mind?” he asks, piercing me with his blue eyes.

“The woman… Demeter?”

“No. She is the guest, here. In fact, what has happened affects her the most. It strips her of much of her power. There is not any possible reason for her to do the killing.”

“Why? Who is her?”

“Just what she said to you. She is the mate of the Eternal Champion. She is your balance.”

“Ok. What I want to know is who she WAS, just like I was Edulcore Cicciotto, ex Olympic champion, ex junkie, ex owner of a restaurant. And how she has been endowed with the mission to host this gathering, and why and how the killing would affect her.”

The mage looks at me, than pull back on his chair.

“I don’t understand you. One second you seems the most ingenuous of the men, the next you asks the right questions. You are amazing me, sir.”

Uh? What does it mean? What he is trying to make me believe? Is he trying to gain confidence? Can he really think I am so easily deceivable?

“To respond to you question, Cicciotto: she has been found after a long research across the whole planet. Who she was is of no importance. She has been found when she was an infant, two years old, by a joined expedition of Hoods and Futurists, and then raised to be host of our annual meeting. She is empowered to be the guarantor of the neutral ground. Now, with what has happened, her role will be revoked.”

Annual meeting? “Annual meeting, you said?”

“True” he says, nodding.

“But… you are fighting from the beginning of time itself. How is possible you have annual meeting?”

“It’s just from four thousands years ago we have. It’s needed, since the world became so complex. Until the beginning of the bronze age, we were doing just our business, clashing here and there, putting one tribe versus the other, making people moving and discovering inhabited places… but when empires began to be built, there was a need to planning far in advance. And when we both discovered the way to look to the futures… we had to start to agree on some rules… not to wipe away reality itself. A thing that sometimes happens even today. Not many moths ago, one parallel Earth got destroyed during one of our uprising… we unleashed to many mythic creatures on that Earth… after a giant appeared in Paris, the planet got destroyed… strangely enough, two human managed to escape… one of the girl of the Neanderthal and the Georgio which was stalking her. We lost their tracks, sadly.”

Nadia! Her story is true, so?!

“So, you meet to secure some future and disregards other?” I ask. The man says he can’t read my mind, but it’s that true? What if he is able to, and told me that just to have me thinking to things he shouldn’t know? Nah, he wouldn’t try to make me feeling fine, like he’s doing.

“Basically, yes. We bring what we know about futures where we both societies disappears, mostly thanks to the effort of the Paleolithic bastard. We study them, find the origin point of the temporal path and make sure there is one of us, Hoods or Futurist, to avoid it when it should happen” he explains.

“You change the future operating in the present, you mean?” I ask.

“Yes, that’s a lot more convenient… and safe… than traveling the timestream”

Silence.

“Can I go, now?” I ask.

“Sure. You are still the suspected number one, tough.” Then he comes closer, just like he did before.

“Rest assured, that if you are the actual killer, the thing will be highly appreciated by the Futurist Society, and you will be granted secure refuge from the fury of the Hoods. Remember it” he whispers in my head.

I leave the place. When I am back in my room, I look outside the window. Just like I suspected, my room is exactly one store over the room where Kraken has been killed. The man died in the same moment Nadia left me, jumping outside the window. And nobody seems to know she was here.

Just when I am thinking this, I raise my head.

On the outside wall, standing at an impossible angle, a man is looking at me.

Captain Ekorre gathered his team inside the small cruiser and left the mothership without any fuss.

Time was of the esence...literally.
If those neutrino emissions from this place were interpreted right, the rogue prisoners could be anywhere, anywhen...

The gasclouds of the planet enveloped them as they descended towrds the source of the emissions...and ever so slowly they came closer to destiny...a destiny that would save two worlds and the reality as we know it.

Unkowing of this responsibility, Captain Ekorre told his crew to be ready for anything...anything except the site that met them furter down in the murky clouds....

A immense artifact hovered impossibly without breaking up not far from the surface...it looked like a rusty steel globe, as big as a small planet itself, with a shell of revolving rings that turned around it like a gyroscopic dynamo...

The readings were confirmed...it was this artifact that was the source of the emissions.

As they came closer to it a beam shot out, and the cruiser seemed to turn itself inside out, and with a schwoop, the cruiser was gone...the mothership couldn´t find any trace whatsoever of any wreckage or body parts.

But with great panic and fear, they saw the immense artifact suddenly move towards them. And it spoke...not through the com system, but it seemed like the voice was everywhere...

"I...am...awake...I...am...hungry..."
The mothership did it´s best to fly away from there but it was reduced to a cloud of gas, which was inhaled into a small hatch of the artifact...

"I...need...more..."

The man standing outside had his face hidden in shadow..an impossible thing since he had no hat.

He wore a dark soot grey suit, with polished black shoes and a walking stick with a chromium tip that seemed to emit a small green light.

And just as soon as he had appeared, he disapeared by walking upwards towards the clouds, at an extreme velocity.

I saw something flickering outside the window and opened it.
A green peice of paper had been stuck there, and I reached for it.
There were some words on it;

"I´ll be watching you."

Hmmm a friend or foe? Did he have anything to do with current murder of the Hood leader?
And before I utter the words of a bestemmia, I must find out who committed this crime within this sacred house.

A knock on the door.

I carefully approach it and ask;

"Who is it?"

"It´s me...Ameristar. Can we talk?"

“Hi Jakie” I say, to the newly entered woman. “Do you know anything about a gery suit guy with a walking stick, creeping on walls like a geek?”

Ameristar looks at me totally lost.

“Never mind” I assure her. “How can I help you?”

“What about the capes you just met?” she asks.

Uhmm. What, now? I must tell her all? Or just something? Why she has joined the MBL, in first instance? She has not yet revealed it… she used the Hurricane to fit in, and now no one will ask her anything… just like they did with Priest. Or the angel.

“He wanted to ask me if I was the killer. Like if I was, would have tell” I say, smiling.

“Are you the killer?” she asks, colder than I have ever seen her.

“How can you think I…” I begin, but then I stop when I see her lips corners turning up in a smile, that soon becomes a plain laughs.

“Joking, Ed!”

I am not in the mood for jokes.

“So, he just wanted to ask it?”

“Basically, yes. He said that the Hood killed was trying to have me dead, while another faction wants me to join them. Same for the capes, with a man called Aurochs that wants to kill me. But he, too, is minority among the Futurist.”

“Aurochs is a ugly beast. He has fought the MBL. Twice. When you were… away…”

“Ah. I didn’t knew. How it was?”

“I don’t know for sure. You should ask Myrrdhin. He monitors the MBL, not me.”

“Meerr… what?”

“Myrrdhin. The old man. Crasher’s dad. You know, the neanderthal.”

“Ah. I didn’t knew his name. You said… Myrrdhin? That’s one of the names of Merlin, right?”

“Right. Merlin was him. The historical Merlin. He was an archbishop…”

“Tell me more.”

She frowns. “Not now, not here. There will be time for stories. Now we have to solve this mystery before midnight, or world war three will begins.”

“What?”

“This place is special, Ed. Here is the only place where Hoods and Capes meet, without each one trying to kill the other. We must found the killer, before the truce that reign here is not revoked.
If not, the planning summit will not take place, Hoods and Futurists will go each one for their road, seeking the best ends for each, without any care for the continuum. And what will happened to Nadia’s place, will happen here”:

“Nadia’s place…?” I whisper. That’s the third time in less than an hour that I heard this story.

“The parallel Universe from which Nadia came was destroyed after she arrived via a quantum vortex in our reality. In that reality, just as Myrrhdin witnessed before leaving the place, the Hoods were on a rampage. THERE, they managed to build a radio-beacon to the stars, located in Afghanistan, to finally, after all the milleniia, communicate the position of Earth to the reast of their alien race. Reptilian aliens. When the invading forces arrived on Earth, the capes had no different choice than unleashing all the forces of the underworld. Nadia was working to avoid that, but after she was… taken… from that Universe, all went wrong. Science and magic collided… and Myrrdhin was helpless.
That Universe simply disappeared.”

“The Myrrdhin you are referring to… is the Myrrdhin of THAT universe, right?”

“No. There is ONLY ONE Myrrdhin. He is able to travel across dimension… he is involved to fighting the Hoods and the Futurists in any Universe where they exist.”

This is incredible… to much to take, even after all I saw in this past year.

I turn to the window, looking at the distant see. “Where do we start?”

Jackies seems distracted.

“Where do we start our investigation, Scully?” I repeat, jokingly.

“From the butler, as always” she responds.

“Demeter? But the futurist said she is the only one that had no absolute reason to perform the killing.”

Jackie rise her left eyebrow. “Well, that’s yet to be seen!”

And so, that evening all guests of the house were invited to the main Hall, where tables were set up with fine linen and silver.

Servants saw to the needs of the guests whn it came to clothing...
Ameristar had a long flowing black satin dress designed by Jean-Paul Benielli.
Raptor wore a dark grey suit designed by Salvatore Cesarani.

They eyed each other when they met in the Hall and smiled.

"You look.....I can´t find words..." stammered Raptor

"You look pretty nice yourself there, Winged Wonder." Ameristar glided into the Hall with a grace of one used to these surroundings.

Raptor on the other hand kept pulling his collar...did they really need these so tight?
The old neanderthal simply smiled ant thought;
"Young people...hehe."

"You can all sit down please. The aperetifs will be served at the table. We will have a few topics to discuss before the first corse is served." A man standing on a small scene in the middle of the tables, which had been set up to form a u-shape.
The small scene was equipped with a microphone and a large aquarium full of water.

As everyone got seated, the hoods on one side and the Futurists on the other, Ameristar and Raptor noticed that the middle table where they sat was apparently set for the leaders of the factions.
And so only five seats were available.

The leader of the Futurists looked at the peole sitting at the tables. About forty people were gathere here in fine clothing...including a dark haired man known only as The Giorgio. He smiled at Ameristar, who quickly averted her gaze.

"It is with great regret that I have to inform you all that this evening will not be business as usual.
As you all know, Tobias Cracken has been killed in this sacred place of trust and peace."

He cleared his throat...
I propose a toast to Tobias Cracken, Leader of the Hoods, who has proven to be a respectable foe over the years I have had the honor of knowing him."

Murmurs of agreement was heard from a few of the older Futurists.

"Allthough we have fought a war over the millennias past, we have to recognice the knowledge and wisdom he gave us. You Hoods have a title for him I never understood...Master Warper...?"

A few Hoods nodded their agreement.

"Well...I´m sure you will never give me the answer as to what that means...but hear this...Secrets are fine, as long as they serve a purpose. And the secret this evening that we have to find out...is...who killed Tobias Cracken?"

Five seats.

And one is empty.

The empty chair is on the Hoods side of the room. It was the one appointed for the dead Kraken. At the other side there is Stephen Annoval, the man who has just spoken, the leader of the Capes… or Futurists, like they want to be called. He was the one to question me in the afternoon. In the middle, it’s me, Myrrhdin and Ameristar. Crasher is standing near one of the window, just like Demeter, three identical Georgios and three wizards. They seems to act like security guards. There is tension in the air. Palpable tension. And then I see. I see it in everyone’s face, even Jackie, or the ever cold expression of the Neanderthal.

Fear.

They are trying to dissimulate it.

They are trying to show themselves very cool, and comfortable.

Truth is that each one is looking at the other by the corner of their eyes. Every now and then, one opens up his eyes in amazement, like some surprise hit his mind.

Ladnikia vibrates in my hand. The hilt is warm, then hot, nearly impossible to be hold.

It’s like she’s trying to communicate.

I feel a strong bond, like days ago, when I was fighting the vampires under the storm.

Suddenly a figure stand up from the Hoods row. It’s a woman, although at first I didn’t recognize the fact, being her head covered by the huge hood. She coughs, but the eyes of everyone in the room is over me, nobody seems paying attention to her. She begins: “Every one that was present in the building at the moment of the killing is in this room. We’ll begin in a minute the interrogatory: before we start, there is anyone that want to say something?”

I raise my hand, like when I was at school.

The woman look at me from the shadow under her hood. “Mr. Cicciotto?”

“Yes, just a clarification. You said that everyone is here, but I am sure of having seen many waiters, butlers and even cooks in the castle. Why they can’t be suspected?”

“Because they are not humans, Cicciotto. They are robots and automas, designed just for their functions. They can’t kill even if someone would order them to do. I repeat, every one that can be accused of having killed Tobias Kraken, master warper, is IN THIS ROOM.”

“Thank you. That was the thing I needed to know.”

I raise Ladnikia. “Now I know this is a trap.”

Everyone stand up from his seat, marvel on their faces, speechless, amazed.

“This morning it was made clear that no one of you, of either side, can read my mind. And that this bother you most. This means I am special. Special in the sense I am different from you. And this also means that reading toughs it’s common among you. Hence, you know that no one of you, Hoods, Futurist and…” I turn to the Neanderthal. “How do you call yourself? Well, now it’s not important…” I turn back toward the woman. “No one of you is the killer, and everyone in this room knows that.”

Chilling silence in the room.

I pause a moment, then: “No one, minus one. Me. You can’t read my toughs, so everyone of you… even you, Ameristar, I know… think I am the killer”.

One of the Capes, the oldest one, raise his hands, pointing at me, stopped by Hannoval, who says “Aurochs, wait!”.

“Wait for what, Stephen? He is admitting his crime. It’s like I said to you. He will become the tyrant of the world. I have seen it in the Castle of Crossed Destinies! This is the moment to kill him”.

I raise Ladnikia in front of me, like a shield. “I don’t know what this man is babbling about. Hope you will continue to listen, before you make any mistake”.

The Neaderthal nods.

I continue: “I am not the killer. I can’t prove it right now, but I have a witness. But there is more. There were at last two beings at the moment of the killing. One is the witness I was talking about… and it can be somewhere in the castle, hiding and waiting for your sealing spell to be revoked and safely go away. But there was another… a man in a gray suit, that walked up to the sky. For him, your spell surely was like toilet paper. Ah, he had a walking stick…with a green light on!”

At my words, on the face of the Hoods appears an expression of…

...total disbeleif.
"That´s preposterous. We killed him in Chicago, years ago!"

The neanderthal relpies.
"So...you were the ones..."

Aurochs sees his moment to shine and says:
"Yes old man. It was they who killed your son. They knew he had the immortality gene and were afraid he might pose a larger threat someday.What was his name again?"

"My name...is Jack."
Says a calm voice behind them all.

They all turn...and the dark suited man which Cicciotto had seen outside his window, stood behind the leader of the Futurists.
Someone with quick reflexes tried to tackle him...but he passed right through him, like he wasn´t even there.

But there, he certainly was...and he took Stephen Annoval and slit his throat in front of all the members of the house.
Aurochs roared in anger, and tried a quick energy spell. But the charge hit the wall instead.
And the man who looked to be in his mid thirties, faced the neanderthal and said with a crooked grin;

"Hello father. Long time no see."

"You won´t get away this time Jack."

"Oh, I´m afraid I will, father. As I have allways done. And by the way...O says "Hi".

And as mysteriously as he had arrived...he disappeared through the wall that faced the outside garden.

The chaos that ensued, gave Ameristar and Ciocotto the time to talk with Crasher.
But as they walked up to her, the female speaker from before came up to them and said:

"Now that we know who the killer is, we will let you go. This is an internal matter. And you three have no part in this."

A Georgio stepped closer.
"Georgio here will escort you to the car. He will see to it that you get home safely. But heed my words...if we ever meet in the field, it will be as opponents at best...enemies at worst."
With those harsh words she spun on her heel and quickly marched off into the adjacent room.

The neanderthal looked at them with sad eyes:
"I am terribly sorry about all this. I was sure he was dead."

Ameristar looked at him with a frown.
"So...when were you going to tell me eh? The fact that I had a demented brother never ocurred to you that I might want to know stuff like that? And just how dangerous is he anyway?"

"He has the ability to transcend time/space continuum. To pass through walls like a ghost. And he works for a very dangerous organisation. Don´t aske me to name them...the less you know the less you can be harmed, as it is now. Leave it be. Go back to your island and forget about all this for now.
Both the Hoods and the Futurists will be in a state of flux for now. So things will be calm. Go back to your friends...and I may have some work for them later."

Jackie hurries me out of the building, while a Georgio follows us closely, pushing literally us toward the cars. The Neanderthal and Crasher have simply walked out of existence.

But I can’t not note the eyes of Aurochs, piercing me like needles. He hates the fact that there is no excuse to kill me.

We get inside the limo. “What will happen, now?” I ask to Ameristar.

“I really don’t know. What has happened should have never happened. You see, everyone was certain you where the killer. Reuniting all the mages and technicians in the room was their only hope to scan your mind. The thing most sought by every Hoods and Capes. And even by Myrrdhin.”

“But why? Just to know if I was the killer? A paraffin glove wouldn’t have been easier?”

“No, what they wanted was to read your mind. The killing was a good excuse to do that. They want the secrets buried in your mind. They want to know what’s the dark dwarf, they want to know what your parents stole from the two organisation.”

“And what kind of secrets they can be?”

“I don’t know. But do you understand what they have sold, just to try to gain those secrets?”

I look at her, puzzled.

“They have let each other to knows their secrets. Each of their operation, all of their knowledge carefully kept for all of this centuries… gone. They now knows all of the others. Secret bases, operations, influx on world leaders, on world economy… They know all the ones who are doing double play…”

“You say they put their whole existence into fire just to know what I truly am?”

“Yes. Because they FEAR you. The future says you will become the tyrant of the world. All the readable future paths.”

“Don’t tell me that you believe this crap?”

“I don’t know. Future’s paths can always change, that’s for sure… but this seems to be very deeply rooted. Just… just the trap didn’t work. Nobody has read your mind.”

“So now…”

“So now it depends on who the next leaders will be. It will be declared a truce, to let the two organisation to reorganise. You know… killing the traitors… found new secret bases… create new plans. This if all goes smooth. But if one of the faction elects a new leader quickly, it could decide to send an all out attack on the other society, to wipe it out completely… although Myrrhdin works exactly to avoid that. And also… with the revelation of a fourth secret organisation… I don’t know what to think. Maybe hoods and capes will ally… who knows.”

While the limousine, which has no driver, speed up on the dirty road, I turn to see the building for a last time.

And it’s just a ruin.

The end

Epilogue, a week later

Today I was working at the new location for the company, an old fish factory found by Piper in the less ruined part of the island, when Ameristar approcahed me.

I saluted her, asking how the works over the hovercraft was going, because Quantos and some hired technicians where trying to adapt the UFO engine to it, especially thanks to some blueprints that "casually" the Neanderthal gave to Jackie.

She didn't responded, with a face good only for a funeral.

She came closer to me, and whispered in my ear, after ahaving carefully checked that no one was around to listen: "The Futurists have a new leader."

"Who is he?"

"Aurochs".

After the revelation, I went to the beach. There was a Georgio waiting. I knew he was waiting for me.

"Aurochs is a complete fool. I don't want to have him at the heads of the Capes" I said. "Tell me how I can join your society".

The cyborg, if that is what a Georgio is, a thing of what I am not sure, shook his head. "You don't get it, Cicciotto. The Hoods want to make you their leader".

I froze, taken away by the surprise. "Leader?"

"Yes. You have inherited the power that made you perfect for the role. You have just to perform a mission as a test."

"What mission?"

"Ah, it's simple. You have to get a little book..."