LIGHT

Chapter 11

The mortal's next question opened a door I locked away years ago. What happened between you and Zain? Let's start there. The simplicity of his tone made a mockery of the memory. That night changed everything. Unfortunately, it changed my brother for the worse. We were as one. Our thoughts tethered to the same goal. The Council was threatened by that. And mother knew more would follow the ignorance spawned from their fear of change. Because that's what she saw her sons to be.
Change.
The Beginning of all Ends. That's what the legend read—and what The Council hid from understanding. But mother believed in his presence, his word, his power. He was said to be the King of Dreams. His will was drawn from Orion himself. He was the first star. The first shine. He defined the existence of our world. Nirvana thrived off of his legend—the ones brave enough to defy The Council's malice intent to erase his legacy. Fairy Tale. Myth. That's what they spun his story as. But he was more than that. And we, my brother and I, were meant to breathe life into his legend.
But Zain saw him as just a prophecy. A false savior. He believed in his existence. That wasn't the problem. What he didn't believe did more damage to me than just sweeping away his legend as fiction. Zain wounded me with his actions that night. For the first time, our paths were crossed by his belief against what I knew to be true. For once, we weren't the same.
We weren't as one.
We were always taught that faith was a feeling, undeniable and unmatched when captured by destiny. That's what he was. That's what Zain took from me. He was my destiny. He was my air, the invisible need strung along the very reason for my existence. And that's why it hurt my brother so much. That's why he left. That's why he fled his own home, his true family—me. He knew the truth. Light was my purpose—my reason to exist.
Not his.
"Then, why not just summon the guy on your own?" The mortal stupidly replied. "I mean, why come all this way to convince him? I personally think you sound nuts. But all that nutty-ness and black leather could've stayed in the damn mirror world with you. You didn't have to bring it here."
"Your insults are testing my patience, Mortal."
"Hey, man" he replied in surrender, wielding his hands as white flags after sensing my resolve yield to the sharpened blade forging from my hand. "No need to bring out the pointy powers, Edward Scissor Hands."
"You do know I still posses your friend's body and consciousness. So, I fully recognize your cinema referenced indignity, which still counts as an insult. Your'er reaching my breaking point, mortal."
"Look, all I'm saying is, why do you need Zain?"
I almost didn't answer. But then, how else would I find them?
"Mortal, your friend has something that belongs to me?"
"Nope," he protested. "Not buying it. I've already figured out that you need some type of necklace, birthstone, or dragon ball to summon what's-his-face. But you wouldn't have had to do the little mind swap thing. You need something from Zain that can't fit inside a damn necklace."
"Nebulas," I replied, giving him exactly what he wanted. "The spheres I seek are called nebulas."
"Wait...what?" The mortal looked confused, speechless—for once.
"What I need from your friend are the nebulas, the dust..."
"Yes," he interrupted. "I know. The dust of a dying star. Everyone knows that. It's standard fourth grade science. But why do you need...and how do you even get the...and what do you need.."
"For heavens sake, stop it with your incessant questioning."
"What do you need Zain for?" His tone grew low, more serous, laced with intent. "I don't care why you need the nebulas—whatever the hell they are. I don't care to hear another damn history lesson either. What I want to know is what you need with Zain? What does he have to do with all of this?"
I let his request sink in. The idol seconds aided his claim. Even though the mortal was blind—so blind—he was beyond driven to see into the eyes of his desire. But, little did he know, he wouldn't be able to fathom the need, the astronomical truth behind his friend's true nature. He wouldn't be able to understand what Zain was...is—what we are.
"Sit down," I ordered him, looking to test that theory. "I'll tell you."
#
I'd forgotten how beautiful it was.
The sounds. The air. All of every feeling rushed me at first. Then, familiarity eased its lulling ways into the gaps of my memory. Pleasantly smeared colors washed through the skies. Playful greens met blues, swirled with pinks and bright yellows that shinned for hours, relinquishing the shadow casted from the walls of time. Earth was bound by such chains, cursed bondage defined as never ending or inevitable. But Nirvana was before worlds, between reason—a blink through the mist. It thrived eons before the thought of man, characterizing the essence of time and space in its own backyard. And this part—the Oasis—was stashed at the farthest edge of Nirvana, broken away from the chaos my brother and I awakened.
"I've got to get back home."
"My son, you are home. This is where you were born. Not the mortal world. Accept your destiny. Stop running from the truth."
Her words enraged me like no other.
"What truth, Mother? Light is dead. You may have proven his legend. But the reality still stands. He needs both me and Zeal to become whole again. I feel his spirit inside me every day, every night, and ever moment I breathe. Yet he's nothing more than a bad dream without Zeal and the bracelets."
"Nebulas, my son. Has the mortal world sullied your understanding of our history that much?"
"Earth is my home!" I seethed. "This place...these ruins of my past are just that." I paused for a second, feeling the heat of Light's presence course through my veins. My eyes began to scorch my face, searing the skin acting as their shade. I had to walk away, fight the temptation to lash out and release the curse burning within me.
"Stop fighting him, my son. Light is here to heal, to help, and lead us all to salvation."
Her words angered me even more this time. I could feel the memories of her obsession powering the spirit trapped inside me. I felt her presence grow closer behind me, my eyes wired shut to simmer the shaking and cold sweats pushing their way through me.
"Stop," I demanded through a muttered tone. "Get away...away from...me."
Suddenly, my knees gave out, dropping me to the floor. Nirvana's atmosphere is where he thrived. His brith place gave him power. I had more control of him on earth, eons away from this place. But now, I was back. His power and influence was greater here. He could hear it, see it, feel the spaces of freedom a breath away from his grasp. I feared this day. I feared it from the very beginning. And most of all...
I feared him.
Release your inhibitions, my child. We are one.
His voice still sounded the same in my mind. I could hear him so vividly now. Before, on earth, a whisper is all he could manage. But now, he was home.
My life is your life. Your life is mine. We are as one, my child. We are as one. Release me.
"Stay...out...of...my...head." I stammered, wrapping my arms around my torso to contain his force."
Our minds are as one. We are as one. Release me. Release me.
The winds grew weary, rushing the sky's, swirling the clouds into a dark mist. The once bright colors were molding to a dark, purple mush. Soon, they sunk into a pit of darkness, pitch black swirls and cracks of yellow lighting.
He was coming.
The ground beneath me was struck by bits of light. I couldn't move though. The pain was too great.
Release me, my child. Release me.
"Ne...never."
We are as one. We are as one.
"Get...out—"
We are as one. Release me.
"Get...out...of...my—"
RELEASE ME!
"Get out of my head!"
It was here. It had came. The belted cry sounded through the skies, awakening the power I tried so desperately to bury. With my head thrown back, and eyes wide open, the gold light from each eye shot out into a violent beam. My yells and cries did nothing but heighten the blast. Then, the clouds turned faster, encasing me inside a tornado of wind. Lighting raced. Sounds of whipped air cracked all around me. But I screamed through it all, relinquishing every ounce of anger into the sky.
"AHHHHH!!!!!"
#
AHHHH!!!
"What the?" I questioned my senses. But then, the familiar cry struck me again. The sound rang a haunting pierce of rage and worry, like it was calling out to me. My body reacted next, trembling for no reason. My eyes burned, veins growing thick and pulsing underneath my skin.
"It's happening?"
"What...what's happening?" The mortal replied, and I ignored.
"But, how? How is this—" but the pain struck me next, bringing me to my knees. "Ah...Ahh...AHHHHHH!" I cried.
This day had been a destiny for me long ago. But as I watched a whole rip into the air before me, tearing the empty space into the shape of a golden ring, attainment fled the bearings of my desire. My reaction was not that of a warrior reaching his potential, but that of something else; something deeper. Because I wasn't alone, I could feel Zain inside me. His fear, anger, every ounce of emotion was caving to his power; the one we thought lost to us all those years ago.
I could see Zain floating through the portal, thrown to the ground in front of me, his wrist revealing the nebulas I was in search for. Then, one instantly appeared on my wrist, throbbing a flashing beam of gold from each ball.
"Brother..." but it was too late. I could see in my brother's glowing eyes that he was gone. Even as he spoke to me, I knew who was behind the voice, my body growing cold, faint, withering into a mist for him to consume, before speaking those words.
"My child, the day has come."