Chapter 2: The beginning - II

“I am dreaming again. Wonderful”

“This is not a dream young one. This is reality and I am very real”

*Before Rafael could react, the man pointed out with his stick to a rock near him, gesturing him to sit. Rafael complied silently but had also found himself wondering whether the rock was there before or not*

“My name is Gorion and I am here to provide you with an answer to all your questions”

“My questions? What questions? OH! How about who the hell are you and what do you want from me?”

“Such questions will be answered all in due time but don’t you want to ask the more important questions right now?”

“What questions? You are one crazy old fellow and I am leaving”

*With that Rafael got up and was about to leave when Gorion’s voice stopped him. What stopped him was not the tone of his voice but rather the words he spoke*

“Questions like why do you feel you are so different? Why don’t you ever feel at home? Why have you never felt a sense of belonging? Why is that you always feel out of place? Why is it that you feel that this was not your purpose? Why do you keep searching for the meaning of destiny and its meaning? Why do you feel that the world is not a reality?”

*Rafael was stunned to silence. He couldn’t speak. Everything he said was spot on, but he should not have this knowledge. These were things that he hadn’t had the courage to admit to himself*

*Rafael sat back on the stone, and in a barely audible tone he muttered something as Gorion continued*

“All in due time Rafael. Oh, don’t be surprised Rafael, I know a lot more than your name. I know how you find your dreams much more unsettling not because they are strange but because you find it much more real than the real world itself. I know that you always search for what’s missing in your life. I know why you can’t engage in anything for a long time. I know you too search for all the secrets the day reveals. I know that even though you are not a believer of the supernatural you are unable to deny is existence every single time”

*Hearing all this made Rafael furious. This old man who he had never met before, now sat before him speaking his innermost thoughts, the thoughts that he never could have spoken out loud and all that in a way like a conversation one would have over tea*

“So why don’t you tell me? Why don’t you tell me that why, even when I am surrounded by my friends and family, I feel like I don’t belong here, why even when I have everything, I feel like a large part of my life is missing, why do the dreams seem so real to me while the world seemed like a virtual reality? Why don’t you break the lie in lights and reveal the truth in the shadows?”

“Each and every of your question would be answered Rafael, but you just need to listen to me patiently”

*Rafael had calmed down a lot after his sudden outburst and was now waiting calmly for the response*

“As I said my name is Gorion. I am a wizard. I serve.”

“Yeah right! And I am Tom Cruise”

“Silence Rafael! Do you want me to answer your questions or not?”

*Rafael fell silent*

“Before you leave here tonight, you will have proof of everything that I will say”

*Silence*

“As I was saying I am a wizard. I serve the high council that is responsible for recruiting new wizards”

*Nod*

“You have been chosen as the next recruit”

*Rafael looked like he wanted to say something but then thought better of it. Seeing no snide comment Gorion continued*

“The world I live in is a world much different than yours. Long ago both the worlds were one. Everyone had magic powers and magical energy coerced through the veins of each individual. That world was much more far ahead then the one you live in or the one I live in right now. But overtime as is human tendency, they thought everything they did, everything they had achieved was because of them and not anyone else. And so, a large group of people suddenly decided to boycott the use of magic. The world was divided into two countries, one where the magi lived and other where the ‘mundane’ lived”

“Ok go on”

“When the children of the mundane country were born a seal was placed over the young infants that would prevent them from seeing or using magic. Then one day they decided to place the seal on themselves as well. Only the leader remained as no one was left who could seal him. And just like that 90% of the world’s population suddenly knew nothing about magic. The large and sudden disbelief in magic had drastic consequences. Millions were killed and the world itself was split into two. One where the magic was still alive and one your world, the world of mundane”

“What happened to the leader?”

“He became the first void dweller”

*Rafael wasn’t buying anything that this old man was saying but he sure told and interesting tale. Someone was going to get an A on the next story telling assignment*

“Ok, but it still doesn’t explain why your so-called council is trying to recruit newer mages?”

*Gorion thought for a second and them clapped his hand. In front of him a beautiful holograph of the space view of earth came. As he spun it around another similar earth was right behind it and both of them were connected by numerous small strings*

*Pointing towards the holograms he said*

“This is your world and that is mine. The two worlds are like two sides of a coin and are connected by these strings or bridges as we call them. Each of the bridge represents one person in your world that believes in magic. The more people we can recruit from your world, the stronger the bridges and the closer the world would be. But due to increasing technology and your upgrading science, you guys have no time or are starting to doubt magic, even those who believe it a little are now starting to doubt it. Which will push the worlds even apart”

*With saying that he started to pull the earth’s apart breaking the strings one by one, once the last string was broken, one of the earth’s exploded and one simply faded away*

“What was that? What just happened?”

“Once there are no believers left in your world, all the bridges would be broken and the flow of energy would stop. My world would explode as it alone would not be able to handle the amount of energy that was circulated in the two and yours would simply cease to exist”

*Rafael nodded fascinated*

“Have you understood everything that I have said so far?”

“Yes, but why choose me? I am a normal human with nothing special”

“You have not been chosen randomly. The council monitors infants, since they are in their mother’s wombs. Overtime the council drops the children who possess little to no magical affinity. The remaining are observed over the years and when they reach suitable age, the last remaining few are contacted. Everything you have done so far, was a test. Not disclosing your situation to anyone was a test, even your, coming here was a test. If you had ran away even once, you would have never seen me and the next morning you would have woken up thinking it was all a dream”

“You were chosen because you have a brain that can question the small things around you that obviously do not make any sense yet are ignored by majority of the human population. You feel you always were in the wrong place? That is because you are. You always felt that you were living in a virtual reality? Because you are. Your world appears the way it does to you because of a veil, a brilliantly designed computer program that is meant to hide each and every thing that could make you believe in magic appear like nothing out of the ordinary. You always felt something was missing, because your body without knowing misses the magical energy that was supposed to be flowing in your veins just as similar as blood flows right now”

“Okay, but if all the council want is to keep the worlds united why not recruit anyone and everyone? Won’t that solve the purpose faster? And who would reject magic?”

“One would think that won’t they? But that is not the case. Not everyone possesses an open mind. Few centuries back it was tried. The council picked 100 humans at random as new recruits and showed them the real world. But those people were so dependent on the notion of a mundane world that they couldn’t handle the mystic arts and their minds collapsed. They remained unconscious until they died. The method that the council uses right now is a time-tested method attained by countless trial and errors, and is the best one currently”

*Rafael nodded*

“Well, all that aside we will have a lot of time to chat later, but right now all that I have said so far must appear like rantings of an old man to you, so as promised, time for some proof. I can’t show you everything….”

“Ha I knew it. I knew when the time for proof will come you will make some lame excuse to escape”

“As I was saying, I can’t show you everything right now but I will give you definitive proof that I am indeed one of the magical beings”

“Alright! This should be interesting”

*Gorion beckoned Rafael to come stand near him. He complied, as Gorion held his staff pointing it towards the rock. Now that Rafael was closer, he could see the staff more clearly. It was almost as tall as Gorion himself, but it wasn’t made up a single piece of wood as it appeared from a distance, rather it appeared as if growing vines entangled themselves into the shape before they hardened. The vines spread out near the top of the staff, forming resting place for quite a large gem. The gem was blue in color. Gorion took a step back said something and then shouted “fire”, something moved from his hand into the vines, as they lit up transporting whatever to the top. The gem started glowing and then shot something out towards the rock. The rock exploded. Rafael looked in disbelief as the pieces of the rock flew here and there, he could hear the explosion and feel the heat, but surprisingly nothing on the ground caught fire. The gem now glowed red*

*Before giving Rafael time to recover, he held his hand, and muttered something in language he couldn’t understand. Rafael remembered the feeling of something pulling him from behind, and then being thrown, being unable to breathe and the cold and dampness, he opened his eyes with great effort and saw he was under water. He could see the fishes swimming by, the hundreds of patterns of coral of various colors. In a blink of an eye, he was on the top of snow-covered mountain. His clothes wet from the ‘dive’ earlier combined with the chill of the mountain made Rafael shiver*

“Oh, cold, are you? Why didn’t you say so?”

*And in the next second, they were standing atop an alive volcano, Rafael could feel the immense heat emanating from the volcano, he hung on to Gorion for his dear life. One second after the next Gorion spun Rafael around like he was a toy, from beaches to deserts, from underground adventures to a trip to the moon, to waltz around the universe, to be able to see the sun from space, feel its heat, and then once again be teleported to a different corner, a never-ending trip through the gigantic multiverse, and in the end he was once again back from where they began*

*Rafael knelt and wept, with joy with surprise, with glee with terror. His heart was in a hurricane of emotion. He took a step back to get a better look at this man. Just who was he? He came out of nowhere; knew things he had never said out loud and shook the very foundation of his being. He told him to believe in something that he had spent his whole life denying, and that too with a proof that cannot be denied*

“I can teach you to do all that and much more, I can teach you how to emply the infinite energy of the universe to do your bidding. How to master the arcane arts and rise above the petty things you are so worried about right now. How to be more than a tiny speck in this large never-ending multiverse, but be warned, though the advantages are many the risks are not few. The multiverse is an unforgiving place, filled with beings and monsters beyond your wildest dreams. So, are you ready to discover your destiny and purpose? Are you willing to learn the unbeatable art? Are you willing to leave behind your world and everything you know to discover a world that you know nothing about?”

“Hold on man, hold on. You have given me a lot of information; it is too much to process for me right now. You have delivered on your promises, and all I can say is I need time. I need time to think about what I can do. I can’t just get up and leave behind everything I know. I can’t deny tonight but I can’t also deny last 16 years of my life. So, all I can say is I need time”

*Gorion laughed*

“I can see why you were picked, very well. I shall give you 2 days. It’s Friday midnight. So, I, shall come to you on 12:00 am Monday”

“Two days isn’t enough to think about something like this”

“Sorry, but 2 days is the best I can do. Good bye Rafael, I will see you in 48 hours, though I know what your answer is going to be”

*With that Gorion’s staff shined again and he was gone. Rafael was left standing alone in the middle of the forest. He sat back, his entire being was shook from the core*

“No point in thinking about it right now, I should head back”

*Rafael got up to go back to his camp, when the world around him spun and he collapsed to the ground*

*Next morning, he woke up early, and exited his tent, and saw that all others were getting out of their tents as well. He had never been so happy to see those idiots. So, it was a dream after all*

*With that happy thought he started changing his clothes to head back. Though when he removed his shirt, to his horror he saw a tattoo of a tree inked in his arm, as soon as he touched it, Gorion’s rusty old voice echoed in his mind*

#This tattoo is the proof that last night was real, and our conversation was real. You have less than 48 hours to think. The clock is ticking kid. Oh, and I probably do not need to tell you this, but I still shall, that you should not mention our conversation to anyone, or you would be putting not only yours but their lives in jeopardy as well, oh and no one else can see your tattoo so don’t worry#

“Hey pal, you alright? Slept well?”

“Yeah man! Thanks”

“Hey Rafy you still scared”

“I won’t be scared by your dumbass stories anyways Joe, I was so bored I thought I would better sleep”

“Ouch! That’s harsh”

“Karma pal”

*The boys picked up their things and left. As they continued down the woods Joe and Smith went their own way as Rafael and Max continued down their path*

“You sure you alright man?”

“Yes blondie, now on your way”

*Rafael cursed his luck he couldn’t tell the best and the worst moments of his life to his best friend. Rafael entered his room threw his bag aside and went for a shower. After all, all you need to make life changing decisions is a hot shower. Rafael was deep in thought as he let the hot water, wash away the dirt and exhaustion from his body*

“48 hours eh? Whether I go or not I need to come to a conclusion before Sunday”