Power of the Gods

Chapter 22

"So, I take it that everything went well?" Mikados asked everyone as they walked into the temple.

"Yeah," Sam said. "I think it did."

Mikados looked at Justin. "So, you remember who you are now?" he asked.

Justin looked down. "Yes, I do," he said. "Though there are some things that I wish had stayed hidden." He looked at everyone. "We need to go back to Amext."

"Why?" Kylan asked. "Shouldn't we train some more?"

"We should, but we can't," Justin said.

"Don't we still have time before Striker sends his army?" Lucas asked.

Justin looked at Lucas. "Striker is unpredictable," he said. "You can't trust anything he says. Knowing him, he might just as easily send his army today. He only cares about killing me and he will do anything to do so. We need to go to the Nightmare Zone."

"I thought we couldn't go there unless we opened the rift," Porter said. "We're still waiting on Principal Cadres and the other teachers to find out how to open it."

"We don't need them to anymore," Justin said. "One of the advantages of being able to use Lost Magic is that I can open rifts."

"Then why not open it here?" Sam asked. "Why do we need to go to Amext to open one?"

"Because unfortunately, in order to open the rift, I need to be somewhere wear one exists," Justin explained. "There aren't many, but they exist in the places with incredibly high magical properties. Stonehenge, the Bermuda Triangle, Loch Ness, the Pyramids of Giza, places like that. The only other places are where there are large amounts of magical energy gathered. Like a school training people to use magic."

"I do have one question," Porter said. "If Striker only cares about killing you, why hasn't he done it yet? I mean, why'd he send assassins to do it for him?"

"He knew I lost my memory," Justin said. "He was testing me to see if I was strong enough to 'entertain' him."

Lucas scratched his head. "Wait, how could Striker have known that you lost your memories?" he asked.

Justin sighed as he turned to go grab his things. "Because, he's the reason I lost them in the first place," he said. Then he walked away to avoid having to answer any more questions.

After they said their goodbyes, everyone began to climb into the helicopter. Before getting in, Justin looked back at where the temple stood. "Hey, you coming or what?" Sam asked him. Justin gave a small smile as she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the chopper.

"Ready to go?" Kylan asked.

"Ready," Justin said, giving Kylan a thumbs up. Soon the helicopter was up in the air and on it's way to Amext.

The ride was quiet, except for a few attempts at small talk from Lucas. No one seemed to want to talk to each other. It wasn't until they had landed that someone said something.

"Welcome back," Principal Cadres addressed them with a smile, Vice principal Stauncher standing next to him. "How was your trip?"

"Very 'enlightening'," Justin said. "Is everything ready?"

Stauncher pushed her glasses up on her nose. "Yes," she said. "We have prepared everything like you told us in your call."

Kylan gave Justin a confused look. "When did you call them?" he asked.

Justin looked at Kylan from the corner of his eye. "While I was getting my things," he answered. "I needed them to be prepared for the rift opening." He turned to look at his friends. "Wait here, I'll contact you when I've opened the rift."

Sam was about to say something, but Justin had already ran off. Instead, she turned to the others. "Has anyone else noticed that Justin has been acting differently?" she asked.

"How do you mean?" Principal Cadres asked, confused.

Sam began to tell Principal Cadres about their trip to the Wolfen Woods and about Justin getting his memories back. "Ever since he found out about his past he's been, different," she said. "He's not as laid back as he was before. It's like he's carrying a dark weight on his shoulders."

Stauncher looked up from her clipboard. "You might be overthinking things. The problem might not be as complicated as you think," she said. "It may just be that he's trying to figure out what to do from here, who he wants to be."

"What do you mean?" Porter asked. "How can he be anyone else?"

"Think about it," Sam continued for the vice principal, remembering something Justin had told her. "Justin didn't know who he was while he was in Amext. He told me that he lost his memories a long time ago." She looked at Stauncher. "You're saying that the person he was while he was here might be someone different than he used to be, and that the two versions of him might be making him act distant because he doesn't know who to be now."

Stauncher nodded. "Exactly," she said. "All we can do is let him work it out himself. He's the one that needs to decide, not us."

Sam's watch started beeping. She pushed down on the center of it as a holographic screen with Justin's face on it came up above the face of the watch. "Come up to the roof of the main building," he said. "The rift is about to open up and we need to be ready to jump through it."

"Okay, we'll be there soon," Sam said, hanging up as the screen faded away. She turned to Porter, Kylan, and Lucas. "Well boys, say your goodbyes. We've got a dimension to save."

Justin stood on the roof of the school's main building with Alpha. In front of them was a circle with different symbols around it. "Are you sure that you want to go through with this?" Alpha asked. "There are other options."

Justin didn't look at Alpha as he pulled out a small knife. "I know," he said, cutting the palm of his hand with the blade and holding his hand out over the circle as his blood dripped out. "Unfortunately, we don't have the time for alternatives."

Justin shut his eyes as he focused his power. When he opened his eyes, they were glowing white. His blood began to spread along the circle, filling the circle until it was all red. The symbols began to glow white as they rose above the floor. The blood in the circle began to spin. As it continued to spin it began to sink into the ground like a sinkhole.

Justin's eyes had just turned back to normal when Sam and the others arrived. "Ready to go?" Justin asked.

"Yeah," Kylan said.

"As ready as we're ever going to be," Lucas chimed in.

"Good," Justin said, turning to the rift. "All we have to do is jump down into the portal. Then we'll be in the Nightmare Zone."

Justin was just about to jump, when he was stopped by Sam grabbing his arm. "Justin, before we go do this, I need to know that no matter what happens, we can come back together," she said, unable to fight a small stream of tears as she hugged him. "Please. I don't want to lose their person that I've come to know."

Justin hugged her tightly. "Don't worry," he told her. "I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that everyone comes back alive. Besides, I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. We'll beat Striker and come back. I promise."

As they stopped hugging, red lightning began to spark around the portal. "Okay, we need to go," Justin said. "The rift won't stay open much longer. You guys go through first, then I'll go. That way I can make sure it stays open."

Lucas jumped into the portal, followed by Porter, then Kylan, and finally Sam and Alpha. Justin turned and looked at the buildings of Amext through the trees before closing his eyes and falling back into the portal, which closed behind him.