The Guardians of Gaia

Chapter Seventeen

"Otto, don't you have to take the rest?" Ophelia said. She held the beaker in her hands and stared at it in awe. This was it indeed. The passages confirmed it, the way it looked like a galaxy captured in a bottle matched up exactly with Rearose's description of it looking like the fabric of the space. Otto had only been given less than half and he gained the powers of a full-fledged hero, Faust couldn't imagine what would happen if he had taken the full dosage. "It's safer in you then it is in the bottle."

"Don't you guys want any?" Otto offered. The three stood in the kitchen of the headquarters on Titan.

"Definitely not," Ophelia said, with a sharp shake of her head. "I heard that the Elixir of Power can kill you if you're the wrong person. I don't want to risk it. Faust, want to try it? You're not human, after all."

"Jeez, am I a guinea pig now? I'm not human but what if the cosmic essence gives me a heart attack or something? What if I die?"

"I don't think you're going to die," Otto surmised.

Faust rolled his violet eyes. "Real comforting."

"I think you should take it," Ophelia said. Otto looked at her, his lips spread into a big smile and his cheeks warmed with blush. He bit back his smile. Ophelia smirked.

"What?! You're supposed to be the smart one!"

"If you have a little what is that really going to do?"

"What if that little amount is too much!? What if I die?!"

"We'll never forget you," Otto said before bursting into a fit of laughter. Ophelia bit her lip. Faust gave them two middle fingers and that just increased their laughter.

"You can't peer pressure me into taking Otto's cosmic coke, his heavenly heroin, his Oort opium. I'm too old for this." Faust crossed the kitchen and walked towards the door. Ophelia stepped into his path.

"You said touching Otto gave you visions, right? So if you mainline the cosmic essence, it'll probably give you a really clear vision."

Faust cocked a black brow. "That is some really shoddy logic, Pheli," He took a step back and massaged his chin, feeling his goatee brushing against the skin of his palm. He couldn't deny his intense curiosity. "Two milliliters and that's it." He rolled up the right sleeve of his grey raglan shirt all the way up past his shoulder so Otto could inject him.

Otto trotted off to the war room and found a syringe then sucked up two milliliters of the Cosmic Essence. Faust sat down at the table in the War Room while he waited for Otto to inject him. Ophelia watched from a careful distance and bit her nail, almost like she was about to witness an explosion.

Faust winced when the needle pierced through his skin. Otto released the Cosmic Essence into Faust and he could feel the rush of the liquid going through his veins. His whole body throbbed with pain before he passed out. He dreamt of the burning city again, that he was running along the streets. He could smell the burning metal, the dust and the rubble in the air. Now there wasn't a shadowy figure there. It was just Faust, running around the city. There on the horizon was the bright red sun, but there were these oddly colored clouds around it. Faust's forehead broke out in a cold sweat. And then everything went black.

"Son?" A female voice rang out.

"Mom?" Faust said. It wasn't Mrs. Haas' voice at all. This voice was different all together. The words weren't English or any language he had ever heard, but he understood it perfectly. But it was a female voice and Faust was so scared all he wanted was his mother.