"So Novem…" Jaxton smiled. "You're a great asset. You've been outperforming these amateurs…" His expression grew, his face still turned to Elias.
"Mr Ozim," Elias began. "These supernatural occurrences…"
"I'm the mastermind behind the ASID, you don't need to worry. I've linked these cases…" Jaxton explained as he shifted towards the whiteboard. The clinical meeting room enveloped a bitter tone, biting at Elias's skin. The whiteboard marker popped, scribbling following, scratching Elias's eardrums.
Jaxton sketched a quick diagram, displaying Ajespa.
"No royals or anything is linked to Georgia and Rae…My research tells me Rae isn't human. She's from another world…" Jaxton sighed and placed his hand on Elias's shoulder. "You'll take care of her, right?"
"Of course…" Elias stuttered, his voice suddenly shaking at this realisation. Elias had been so enchanted by her personality that he didn't notice the flaws of Rae. Her perfect English with no accent and her unique physique.
The whiteboard stood menacingly back against the room, the contents on the board ever so terrifying. The words "princess" and a rough sketch of a UFO haunted Elias, confusing and worrying him. Just who was Rae?
"Don't take this too seriously though kid, you've made a name for yourself in the world, just take a look!" Jaxton smiled, reaching for the remote that turned the small TV screen that hovered in the corner of the room. Though small, it was large enough to clearly show the headline of the news.
"Good afternoon Indiana, this is Skie Leanne of WXIN, today bringing an international news case! Government officials across the world have correctly identified an unknown flying machine entering the airspace of Georgia, landing in Vardzia. We don't know who or what they are and why they are here. Stay tuned for more."
"You see Novem, this is a case that you should look forward to. Why don't you put that anthropology degree of yours to use? Eh, Novem? Huh?" said Jaxton. Elias was gone already. "Tch, that kid…Get my jet ready."
Elias rushed into the hallway and frantically dialled Rae's number. The numbers felt like frozen buttons, each tap sending a terrible chilling sensation. What was this occurrence?
Such a coincidence, Jaxton mentioning Rae was extra-terrestrial and now spaceships landing in Vardzia. It was real, but Elias kept trying to deny it. He believed that the spaceship was an illusion, rather another scheme plotted by Anateros.
"Rae! Did you hear the news?" Elias exclaimed.
"Elias, I was about to call you!" Rae's voice echoed. The speakers blasted slowly, reverberating.
"Stay there…" Elias reassured, his voice calming down.
"Elias, are you taking this job or not?" Jaxton's voice lingered down the hallway, Elias finally locking eyes with Jaxton.
"Let me get Rae first," Elias reassured, giving Jaxton the green light to wait for him. Elias and Rae soon met Jaxton on the pitched runway where he parked his private jet.
"Shall we get in the air?" Jaxton proposed, motioning for the two to enter. The interior was luxurious to say the least, with fancy cocktails and food. They flew as quickly as they could towards Vardzia, unbeknownst to them would lie the greatest case in history.
As Elias and Rae ventured back into Vardzia, observing the large spaceship that landed in the mountains. Again, it seemed futuristic enough to resemble the now non-existent city of Ajespa, also matching the overall aesthetics they employed.
Out of nowhere, a battalion of troops emerged, alienlike. Of course they weren't human, but neither were they aliens. They were robots. They looked identical to those monsters they fought back in Old Ajespa, but scaled down by a lot.
The machines beeped. The static buzz tuned up into a deafening frequency, paralysing Elias. Rae stood unfazed, Elias struggling.
"JESPAN DETECTED. ANALYZING IDENTITY: HELLO PRINCESS MALVORR." The robots emitted.
"Hey! What are you– Aaah!" Rae squealed. The robots definitely weren't kind, swiftly dragging Rae and Elias back into the ship.
"Princess?" crewmates chirped as Rae landed on the ship, walking towards the starboard. Though she had never been on a ship like this before, it felt like she had. A mystical sense of deja vu gushed down on her.
"Chain him up!" the others chanted, the robots still carrying the paralysed Elias. On the east side, the robots held Elias against the wall and stripped his shirt, then chaining him onto place.
The metal straps tightly held Elias in place, as if he was crucified. The metallic surface was cold, his weak body leaning forward in despair.
"You! Stay away from the princess of Ajespa!" a voice rang.
"Hey! Let him go!" Rae's voice echoed. It felt like two sides were fighting for him, one to torture him further and the other to save him. But it was Rae against the whole crew.
"Rae, do you forget who we are?" a new voice crackled. Elias's eyes finally opened slowly, scanning the perimeter. He saw humanoid like people, of course he knew they weren't humans as they hovered like superheroes from a fictional world. Their appearance indeed mimicked humans almost perfectly and from what Elias could hear, their personalities were robust. "We came to Earth not to find love, we came for the Orichalcum…We came back now again…"
"Huh…?" Rae's voice suddenly grew weak and her expression went pale. His majesty's ominous aura flooded the starboard, his voice deep and hypnotic.
"KILL HIM."
The crew beat Elias, blood spewing everywhere. It was brutal and Rae couldn't bear to watch. The beating turned into a show, with several crewmates throwing objects at him and making a mockery out of him.
"WAIT." His majesty ordered. "STOP."
The crew listened and pulled back, with Elias barely breathing. It was obvious the crew was not good at killing, with their puny attempts to damage him failing, with all his vital organs and bones still intact. All that they had done was give Elias the rotten impression that this race was corrupt.
"As the Jespan's race's ruler, I inquire what has brought you here?" His majesty's deep magenta beard brushed against Elias's hair as he towered above him.
Elias, trying to piece together his words, was barely able to speak. "I…I…Rae…"
Rae suddenly snapped into a state, even herself being unaware of it.
The static hum pierced Rae's mind, suddenly recalling the nothingness of a room in the spaceship. Was she hallucinating? No, it was more than just a hallucination. It was a message, a vision.
The voice, it was of her real mother. Her voice whispered silently in her mind. The memories churned, her anger dissipated.
"This star is the last of our race! The protectors who have adorned them, and yet, you don't wish for us to survive?" her mother echoed. The ethereal flashback she experienced felt unreal, she knew she had never been in that position where she witnessed her parents arguing. Perhaps it was before her birth? It couldn't be.
"These protectors are useless, they fall out of the sky, one by one! They are worth nothing if the Avidrones can kill them so easily!" her father yelled. His voice hadn't changed, that stubborn, egotistical old man of a father she had.
"Please Kareth…"
"No Halena, it must be done,"
"This world is no place for our child! That Orichalcum rich planet…"
"You mean that planet Earth? Tch, to hell!"
Her mind raced. She knew her real father, Kareth, was no one to believe in heroes. She assumed he had no knowledge of the Orichalcum star.
She took out the pendant that she had treasured. Though hazy, she could still vividly remember this pendant came with her arrival on Earth. Perhaps it was a sign? Maybe it was the Orichalcum star?
"Rae! Focus on this!" His majesty threatened. "Is that an Orichalcum star?"
"Um…yes? Can I give it to him…?" Rae asked, not knowing what it did.
"What? Give him…the Orichalcum star?" His majesty laughed. Rae, frustrated, shoved the small star shaped crystal deep into Elias's body, penetrating his skin and ripping apart his flesh.
"Aaargh!" Elias screamed in pain. The star bled into his blood, a deep violet glow radiated from his skin. His vision grew hazy, and particles began to appear.
"I'm so sorry! Please, save yourself…" Rae wept as the crew forcefully pulled her away from Elias.
"You stupid girl! Our Orichalcum star is gone now!" His majesty roared. "TAKE HER AWAY. AND ACTUALLY KILL THE GUY FOR REAL THIS TIME."
The crew dragged Rae away and the rest focused on killing Elias. There was no hope. Punch after punch, the crew gasped for breath, growing ever so tired, hurting Elias.
"Man, I never thought killing somebody with your fist was hard…" a crewmate mumbled. The particles appeared again. They emerged from the bodies. The flake-like shape particles slowly drifted towards Elias. He slowly breathed them in.
"Do ya think Malvorr would say this is good enough?" another crewmate huffed. All out of breath, Elias's breathing picked up in pace, his veins glowing brighter each second in a menacing purple.
"Hey hey hey now! You can't call his majesty Malvorr! If you get caught we'll be executed!" another remarked. "Remember his Orichalcum star infused blade? The Starslayer…It destroyed our planet…"
"Hey…what's happening to him?" Another added, his attention turning back to Elias. The crew gathered around, puzzled by Elias's state. A large outburst suddenly propelled the chains that confined Elias back, followed by a humongous purple supernova-like explosion.
Majority of the crew were knocked out instantly, crashing into the hard metallic walls. Shattered glass and steel shards vibrated on the ground, piercing the air that was once warm. The room was clinically cold.
Rae, who was interrogated by her real father, suddenly heard the loud, painful sounds of crewmates falling. The conversation was interrupted and King Malvorr was angry.
"Rae. You have been blinded. I, Kareth Malvorr, your real father will show you the true world," King Malvorr mumbled, reaching for the Starslayer.
The blade was slick, a golden handle with grey engravings of his name "Malvorr" glistened underneath the warm lights the haven provided. As he stepped out into the hallways, his blade scraped the ground, a painful sound complimented by the slow, purple pulsing the core of the sword emitted.
"Rae Malvorr, my dearest daughter…How have you come to like these humans?" King Malvorr grumbled, his expression growing even angrier, his voice carrying a heavy sense of frustration. No, he didn't only feel betrayed by her daughter, he was disappointed. "Helena, you don't know what you have started…That mission…you lied to me…"
King Malvorr's grim frown was permanent, his past was too traumatic. Him and Helena were never on good terms. But the mission? That was different. He had thought Helena had left Rae on Earth to command, build an army to mine Orichalcum for their race but this? To fall in love with a human? It was sickening.
"Kareth Malvorr I presume…?" Elias smiled, all energetic. His energy was restored, taking on a fancy suit of armor.
"How did you…?" Malvorr exclaimed, frustrated. "Senturies! Go!"
A swarm of small, dwarf-like machines flew out from a hatch, attacking Elias. His vision grew clear, more energy particles releasing from every movement of the drones. No, it wasn't that the machines were getting tired, rather it was the excess or waste energy they produced.
"Huh?" Elias gasped, coming to his senses. He could see his true power, his true potential, to manipulate wasted energy into something strong. "Implode!"
His voice channelled through the ship, followed by a chain of small explosions that blew up the swarms of Senturies.
"What?!" King Malvorr exclaimed. "That's it…Feel the wrath of my Starslayer!"
The heavy blade clashed against Elias's energy armor, able to resist and absorb all damage.
"This…feels…amazing!" Elias chuckled. A clump of particles drifted towards Elias where he formed a sword of himself. "I have no clue how this works…"
A bright, periwinkle sword manifested from energy appeared in Elias's hands, radiating ethereal like waves.
"This…can't be!" Malvorr exclaimed. Elias rushed in, striking Malvorr. Malvorr fought back heroically, but unable to keep up with the flurry of attacks Elias was producing. "Enough!"
Striking the ground with his Starslayer, the sword drew out a massive outburst of energy, sucking the energy from Elias leaving him weak and fragile.
"Now…DIE." Malvorr growled, his sword pulsing faster and faster. Elias couldn't move, he was deprived of energy and moreover, his face was covered in blood. The crimson red liquid dripped slowly to the ground, each drop vibrating as the heavy steps of Malvorr drew closer.
Malvorr struggled to lift the sword as it was heavy from all the energy it stored, needing him to exert extra energy into it. As he huffed and puffed ready to execute Elias, his breath slowly slipped into Elias, giving him just enough energy to create a small shard.
The Orichalcum Star was rotating fast in the sword's hilt, and as the sword came down, Elias smirked, rolling away and stabbing the overflowing star into oblivion. It exploded, leaving an overwhelming force that instantly broke the star and knocked both Elias and Malvorr away.
"Elias…Please wake up…" Rae cried. Elias was weak, the explosion injuring him heavily. His eyes ever so slightly opened, giving Rae a sense of hope. She sighed a happy sigh of relief.
"No…no…no… This can't be!" Malvorr shouted, as if he wasn't impacted by the explosion. "You ruined my sword! Leave me, and for you Rae, I'm disgusted. I'm leaving you here…"
Surprisingly, the ship was still intact, no major damage except for the breached doors and crushed machinery. Malvorr rushed to the deck and shifted gears.
"You can't leave us!" Rae exclaimed, demanding for a proper answer. Malvorr, defeated, threw a furious look then chucked a sphere-like object at them.
"Knock yourselves out." said Malvorr, gritting his teeth. He slammed the button that opened the hatch, dropping both Rae and Elias back outside, in Vardzia. The ship took off quickly, soaring into space.
"Elias…Are you alright?" Rae asked.
"Ugh…Yeah…" Elias chuckled. Rae toyed around with the sphere, appearing to be a projector of some sort. Then, a hologram appeared.
"Dear Rae, if you're watching this, this means our race is almost extinct. The Avidrones have conquered our planet and I was the one who left you on Earth. I wanted you to be safe, away from warfare. This also means that you have the last Orichalcum Star. They are powerful items that can unleash astronomical powers. These superpowers once created strong and reliant protectors, but now it's your choice to help save our race. Choose your hero that will protect us." The hologram was of Helena Malvorr, her real mother. It felt surreal seeing her mother for the first time. "Also, you might find yourself adapting to life on Earth quite easily. Us Jespans have a few quirks, having incredible memory, being multilingual and being able to short fly. Good luck, dear."
Jaxton's voice echoed from afar, calling out their names. Elias and Rae sat in peace.
"Dear lord, what happened to you two? I saw a bunch of robots kidnapping you guys, and now you're almost dead!" Jaxton sighed. "Thank god we didn't lose Elias,"
Rae sniffed, holding back her tears for what she had experienced. Were the Jespans really that bad? And what's next? Did Anateros know about their existence already? It was all a big mystery.
"Are you all okay?" Jaxton reassured, helping Elias up back into the Jet.
"He will be fine…He's a hero…" Rae whispered.
"Of course, he's my best," Jaxton boasted. Rae shook her head.
"No, I mean like a superhero,"
"Kid got superpowers?"
"Yes. It's a long story. I'll tell you the story later. It's what my race, the Jespans, call the Jespan Star."