Excalibur Arisen

Chapter 3

     After the incident with the paycheck, Mr. Harjab mailed it to us, where I, in turn, gave to my mom. She took it silently, deep in thought- no doubt about Dad. Mom said he'd died when I was little. She never answered me when I asked questions about him, and we never visited his grave. I'd told her about Molly and me, and she seemed genuinely happy for both of us. She was in her mid-forties, but looked significantly younger. At least, that's what our guest seemed to think one rainy afternoon as he knocked on our door. I jumped up to get it, but my mother motioned me to stop, signaling that she'd get it herself. Opening the door revealed a man dressed in a black raincoat, jeans and tennis shoes. He spoke first.

     "Is this the Austerman household?"

     "Yes, this is. What would you like?"

     "I'm looking for Remin Austerman, is he home right now?" Before she could answer, I walked to the front door.

     "Remin, I think this man wants to talk to you for a minute."

     "One second," I told her. I ran upstairs and grabbed Excalibur, in case his intentions were harmful. I came back down and walked out, without my jacket, to talk to the man.

     "So," the man began, "I'll get straight to the point. I need that sword you have."

     "What sword?" I asked him, shocked. How did he know about that?

     "Don't play dumb. I know you have it, I sensed its power emanating from your home. I'm on your side, my intentions aren't ones of evil." He proved this by searching himself and revealing not even a trace of a weapon. I felt myself relax, but I was still wary.

     "You felt the power of Excalibur? How?" I asked.

     "It's a special skill, granted to me by others of my kind. You've no doubt heard of the group of terrorists that want to 'take over the world'? You could say our kind rivals theirs." I faintly recalled hearing about terrorists like that on the news once.

     "I've indeed heard of them, but what do you have against them?"

     "They want to take over the world, like I said. The mission of my kind is to halt their plans."

    "How can your kind be sure the terrorists aren't just crazy old fools who're all bark and no bite?"

     "My kind has a special ability, to be able to sense out weapons of incredible power. We've sensed one at all the places they've been moving to. They're dead serious alright."

     "And where do I come into all of this?"

     "You ask a lot of questions." He sighed. "Listen, let me lay out the situation for you. The terrorist group has one of the two Golden Weapons- what we've nicknamed these incredibly powerful and legendary weapons. Their group also has large numbers. Our kind has smaller numbers and is likely to fail." He paused. "However, if we can steal the Golden Weapon from the terrorists, we stand a chance of defeating the terrorist group. You have the other Golden Weapon, Excalibur."

     "How can I be sure this isn't a story you're just making up?" He showed me what seemed to be a birthmark. On closer inspection it looked like a tattoo, but more detailed. I ruled out both of those options. It showed a dragon breathing fire and flying above a shielded soldier, right in the middle of his chest.

     "What is it?" I questioned him.

     "This is the sign of my clan, the Kurikana clan. You'll find it in the exact same spot on each of my clan members. This isn't a game, kid." I found myself believing him.

     "So what do you want me to do?" I asked him.

     "Right now I'd like you to join us, kid, and we'll decide what to do from there. We plan on stealing that other Golden Weapon from the terrorists."

     "How would we steal it, though?"

      "That's what we're plotting out currently. Right now the terrorists are moving across the globe in an attempt to find Excalibur. They'll be here in about two months. We need you trained to fight with Excalibur by then."

     "When will I train?" I questioned him.

     "I plan on having you train at 2 p.m. every day for an hour until the terrorists arrive in Michigan."

     "My mom is usually home on weekends at 2 p.m.. What are we going to do about that?" He thought for a minute.

     "How old are you, kid?"

      "Eighteen, nineteen in the spring."

     "So then, tell your mom you're going a college course those days then. Simple enough, right?" I nodded. He had my trust, but I had more questions.

     "By the way," I started, "is that all you came here for?" He nodded, but I knew better.

     "Why were you blinking so rapidly then? You came here for something else...but what?"

     "Okay, originally it was only to come talk to you about Excalibur and defeating the terrorists, but after seeing your mother, I realized she's kind of...uh...hot."

     "So you like her, then?"

     "Yeah..."

     "I see." Now that I got a good look at him, I could see he looked to be in his forties as well. He had black hair and blue eyes, and he seemed to be a giant, but really he was only 6"4. We didn't say anything after that for a while.

     "Can I ask you something?" I broke the silence.

     "Sure kid, go ahead."

     "What's your name?"

     "Don't have one."

     "Everyone has a name, don't they?" I wondered aloud.

     "Not me. Nobody really knew who my parents were, where I was from. The older folks of the Kurikana clan raised me from a young age."

     "Well then, I think I'll call you Neutral." He blinked.

     "Why Neutral?"

     "It just seems to fit your personality. This entire time you've had a blank expression, not smiling but not frowning. Neutral's not good or bad." At my explanation Neutral laughed.

     "What a weird way to name a person. Kid, you're alright, you know? Call me whatever you'd like."

     "Will do, Neutral. By the way, I'm Remin, but you already knew that." I held out my hand to him, and he shook it. He then told me he expected me to start training tomorrow at 2 p.m.. He'd meet me in a largely blocked off part of the forest and he'd meet me there. I wasn't quite sure how these next two months would unfold, but boy was I excited. Slowly I returned to the house. My mom curiously asked me who it was and what he wanted with me.

     "Just a college professor asking me questions about why I wanted to take his course." When asked which course I told her one in science and that I was thinking about a major in science.

     "What a dedicated professor, the rain's only going to get worse," she slowly shook her head. "Handsome, too."