Armegeddon (Working Title)

One

He stood at the end of a long, dimly lit room. He thought about what his life would have been if he had never accepted his “destiny”. What if he had denied the Panneau  Supérieur? What if he had simply walked away and never looked back, continued on with his peaceful life, grown old and died? One thing was certain; he would never have had to face these events, leading to Armageddon.  But he was too deep in this now, he could not look back. The dark-brown mahogany double-doors at the other end of the corridor were now inevitable. Slowly, he began to walk. Each step was a souvenir of his last walk on earth; he was certain of his death. Strangely, now that he was so close to come face to face with death, he had little fear in his heart for it. 

As he walked, he reflected back on how his life had taken a complete turn in a mere six months. He had been a normal 16-year old boy with normal dreams and a normal life. That was until he had laid his eyes on her. Her beauty had driven him mad. He had fallen in love with her the first time he had seen her fair face. He still remembered that Egyptian marketplace. How could he ever forget it, for it was that very place where all of this had started. An ordinary summer trip to Egypt. He had always held a passion for travel and different cultures. It held little element of surprise as his father himself had been great cultural scholar. He was wandering in the marketplace enjoying the fascinating stalls and displays, talking to the merchants and making notes in his diary. He was exhausted from his long walk under the blazing hot sun, so he sat down on a worn-out rug beside a display of stunning swords and took a good long swig from his water canteen. Recollecting his thoughts and staring around the market, he suddenly heard a snatch of conversation in English. He looked over his shoulder to see who it was and saw two girls standing a little distance away from himself, their backs towards him. They appeared to be wealthy tourists judging by their clothing and he wondered why a couple of well of girls would be visiting this particular village. Only a few people who were interested in Egyptian culture and history knew about this small area and would be interested in visiting it. He thought of going over and introducing himself but his mind was wiped clean of all thoughts as the taller of the two girls turned around. That very moment had marked the beginning of these events. 

And now, here he was, at the end of the chain of these extra-ordinary happenings. If only he could see her one last time, it would all be so much easier. So he closed his eyes and plunged into the depths of his heart and her face filled his mind; her pink lips, beautiful eyes, narrow eyebrows and her shoulder-length black hair, curled inwards at the ends. A smile occupied his face. He was going to die in the presence of someone he loved, for someone worth dying for.  

He opened his eyes. He was now standing exactly in front of the enormous doors. He paused for a moment, breathing hard, savoring the aroma of the polished wood. “Goodbye April,” he whispered. He reached out with his left arm and laid the palm of his hand on the wood. Slowly the doors started to open, her face smiled in his head for the last time and all fear left his body.  

An immense white light blinded him for a moment. His eyes finally adjusted to the brightness and he could see a large circular room. There was no one there; so he was not going to die easily after all, “Sad,” he thought to himself. The light was originating from an unknown source, seemingly from the walls themselves. The room had a high ceiling and there was a circular stage in the middle of the room, on which stood a black, marble table. This was it.    

Hundreds of miles away, sitting under the clear, star-studded sky on the roof his house, accompanied by the Panneau Supérieur, Grand Maître wondered how the boy could have interpreted the signs so delusively. "Al-Tareeq" he sighed. The rest of the company nodded in agreement, "Indeed." 

It had all just begun.