The PDFs ended. Rae had finally read through the files. The mysteries Jaxton had covered were all so intriguing, sparking her own curiosity now. Rae had so many questions.
Are there any more cosmic disparities? Is there more about Old Ajespa? Could Jespans resist the drug's effects? And most importantly, what was Project XXVII? Rae obviously was craving for more answers, but she heard Elias's door open. She turned her phone off, looking at the clock.
02:10AM it read. Elias wasn't happy.
"Rae, I'm trying to sleep here…" Elias groaned angrily as he slowly peeked through her door. His voice sounded fragile, Rae noticing the difference to his normal tone. Direct and subtly cold.
"Are you alright?" Rae asked, tiptoeing towards Elias. She wrapped her arms around him, giving him a warm hug. Elias's eyes calmed down, his heart beating faster. Rae tilted her head up, leaning to kiss Elias. "C'mon, I'm sorry if I worried or hurt you…"
Rae's expression was nervous, clinging onto Elias tightly as they both entered his room. Elias sighed, "It's nothing…it's just that it got me thinking…Those files…What are they? Why didn't Jaxton tell me earlier?"
Rae pushed Elias gently onto bed, cuddling beside him. Elias smiled and gently wrapped his arm around Rae. Rae pressed her soft skin onto Elias's cold body, snuggling tight. For a moment, the weight of everything Elias had on his mind faded, a much warmer sensation filled his body. He sighed, unable to hold his smile back.
The next morning, Elias woke up with Rae still sound asleep in his arms. He smiled, kissing her forehead. A slight smile formed on Rae's face nudging closer into Elias's embrace.
Sunlight crept out from the curtains and gently cast on the soft bed sheets. Rae squinted, then proceeded to sit up.
"There's something that I still don't get," Rae began. "The incident where you ran into the Australian plants last time…Jaxton also experienced it…Could it be?"
"Impossible!" Elias jerked upright, his expression suddenly changing. "Where? I need to see!"
Elias spent the morning reading through the files Rae had read the previous night, realising that there was something much sinister happening on the surface. Rae quietly prepared breakfast with Elias focused on reading the files. The aromatic smell of bacon drew Elias's attention, distracting him from the contents of the analysis.
"Smells great," Elias complimented, approaching the kitchen island. He sat down beside Rae.
"What's on TV?" Rae asked as she reached for the remote.
"Breaking News! International Reports of strange flora emerging in the Northern Territory. Botanists and scientists are attempting to neutralise this crop, but there seems to be strange effects. Back to local weather." The announcer explained. It was abrupt, but the two continued to finish their food then take action.
"Jaxton is going to call any minute," Elias smirked, chewing on his food. Elias and Rae had a peaceful morning, enjoying some more time together. They exchanged a warm embrace and a kiss, calming the stress Elias was going through.
Before they left their apartment, Elias changed into something more comfortable. He slipped on his jacket then grabbed his phone and keys.
"Where are we going?" Rae asked.
"To the tailor first. I've got a guy,," Elias explained as he walked out the door.
They took the bus down into the heart of the city, approaching a small tailor named "STELLAR DESIGNS". The interior was small but cozy with a vintage pine wood scent drifting from the register.
"Well if it isn't Elias!" the man smiled from behind the counter.
"Hey Lenny! This is Rae, a new friend," Elias introduced. Rae quietly blushed, had she always felt shy in front of strangers. It was like her second nature to not trust any human ever since her identity as a Jespan, except for Elias and the ISID.
"You sure she ain't your girl-friend?" Lenny chuckled, joking around.
"I know you might not believe me, but I got superpowers recently…" Elias whispered, making sure the other customers didn't hear.
"You WHAT? Are you implying that I'm in charge of designing your supersuit?" Lenny grinned. His expression lit up in an instant, reaching for his notepad.
Lenny was the typical fashion-design student and gamer who enjoyed reading and collecting comics in his spare time. He had always been intrigued by superhero costumes and had a history of cosplaying since he was 16.
"Well, what are your powers?" Lenny asked ecstatically.
"Well, I don't want to disclose this in public, so come around when you're free. I'll fill you up on the details…" Elias explained, writing his address on his notepad. For Lenny, it felt like a dream come true.
As Rae and Elias strolled home across the quiet neighbourhood, a roaring whirr shredded the silence into pieces. A helicopter hovered over the quiet street, but Elias wasn't surprised for once.
"I'll meet you in Darwin, Australia!" Jaxton's voice blasted through his phone speaker. Elias listened carefully, but he was confused.
"Meet you there?" Bullshit. How was Elias going to get to Australia? He shrugged it off. "Whatever" he thought.
"C'mon Rae! Hold on!" Elias exclaimed as he tightly held Rae in his arms, manifesting a pair of wings from the excess energy. The wings carried great momentum due to the extra energy left behind, creating a great outburst of wind that allowed the two to quickly travel through the skies.
Their bodies touched, a warmer sensation filling Elias up. His heart thumped, the lace slowly increasing. He was beginning to lose focus as he glided through the air, the worry he was going to drop Rae. Elias quickly caught up to the helicopter, letting Rae in.
"Sorry, you're too heavy, aha," Elias blushed, trying to laugh it off. Rae threw him a frown, but couldn't help to giggle afterwards.
"Novem," Jaxton began.
"What did you just call me?" Elias interrupted.
"Novem. That's what I said. That'll be your code name,"
"Novem huh? Has a cool ring to it! And it is my last name!"
"Yeah, no shit kid. A new update says 12 of these megaflora plants have fully grown and they are consuming people and anything living nearby. 3 scientists including Alastair Davis and Alex Hoster have been reported dead which isn't good," Jaxton informed. His expression was weary.
"Wait, look at this!" Jaxton announced suddenly, turning the screen so that Elias could see. The megaflora had begun charging up a pulse or blast of some sort, with a dark purple light gushing around in their mouths. The drone shot of the area gave the crew an idea on what was happening, but not the best.
"I've heard from the researchers present there that this plant is named the Eucalipse Jaws," Jaxton motioned, pointing at the drone footage.
Elias stared at the screen, mesmerized by the murky dark green glow.
"I'm guessing these plants were originally Jespan technology," Rae said quietly, her eyes fixed on the footage.
Jaxton glanced at her sharply. "Go on…"
"The vision is still hazy…Ugh. More of the visions…my memories are coming back…" Rae gently pressed her fingers against her temple, looking confused. "These plants were properly never meant to be on Earth. The environment here has mutated them. Unless someone had intentionally planted them here…"
The helicopter began its descent towards California, the group moving to the airport. Jaxton was kind enough to purchase first class tickets for the trip to Australia, telling Elias that it was on him this time.
When they landed in Darwin, they took a off-road vehicle to a makeshift research base that had been established at a safe distance from the Eucalipse Jaws. As they approached the arid sandy plains, Elias could see dozens of personnel in hazmat suits rushing around, setting up equipment.
"ISID here, we're going to take over for a while," Jaxton announced as they got off. "The Australian government agreed to let us see what the commotion is about…"
A man in a beige suit approached Jaxton, followed by a woman in military uniform. "Agent Ozim, Colin Sturks and Amy Victori."
"Great. Any updates?" Jaxton inquired, inspecting the surroundings. Elias took flight, grabbing a bird's eye view of the situation himself.
"The plants are now twelve in total, arranged in a perfect circle. And they're... communicating somehow." Amy explained. "We found some ancient scriptures buried underground that are surrounding the plants…Perhaps if we decipher it we can gain some information…"
Colin held up a stone tablet with engravings on it, almost illegible. Rae thought otherwise, intrigued by the language.
"Stardust. Absorbs. Life. Stars. Are. Finite. Magha." Rae said, her voice robotic translating the carved symbols. "Wait, where's Elias?"
Rae panicked for a moment. She saw and remembered something that she shouldn't have. Was this divine intervention? Or was it her mother calling out to her? All Rae had on her mind was to save Elias. She knew calamity was drawing ever near.
"Elias! Get down! The plants are going to erupt!" Jaxton yelled. Elias reacted to Jaxton's warning but didn't move. The plants sucked more energy from the area, knocking Elias off balance. He felt a strange sensation creeping out of his body.
"Woah! Ahhh!" Elias exclaimed. He was flung out of the air as his powers quickly dissipated, fading into thin air. Elias fell through the air but Jaxton and Rae had caught him, negating a lot of damage.
"Are you alright Novem?" Jaxton asked.
"Me? Ugh…I feel…powerless…" Elias replied.
"No…this can't be…The life the scripture implied must be of cosmic energy…the energy that governs the galaxy…His powers…" Rae muttered, her voice sweating in anxiety.
The plants erupted. A loud roar dispersed 12 strong green beams of light that streamed up towards the sky, all continuing on a path to a different land. The plants quickly withered, soon becoming no more than a small pile of ashes.
"What is the meaning of this?" Jaxton exclaimed. "What happened?"
"Perhaps some people in the world inherited Elias's powers…Even if his powers are gone…Maybe there's hope from these new individuals…" said Rae.
"Indeed, Rae." a voice boomed. The scientists and crew all turned to the origin of the voice, the 12 piles of ashes formed by the flowers.
"Who are you?" Jaxton demanded.
"Me?" the voice roared. "Don't you remember me Rae? It is me…Magha! Oh how you could forget…Your mother ruined our world…So this world will be our new home!"
"What?" Rae exclaimed.
"That's right! I'm your father's right hand man! The Jespan Necromancer!"
The ash from the flowers blew along the wind, sweeping high, forming a tornado shape. The ash settled in the air, creating some sort of vessel. His body slowly formed, the ash constructing bones for his ribs then skull.
"Well?" Magha smirked. "You can't kill me! I'm just a wandering soul of cosmic energy! And your best bet was just drained by me!"
"Impossible! Open fire!" Jaxton declared. The military soldiers that had surrounded the perimeter unloaded their magazines, spraying towards the fat, old man that stood stubbornly in the middle of the territory. "Shit!"
Skeletons began to rise from the arid land, bones seeping through the parched, cracked rocks and sandy surface.
"Skeleton Brutes! Tank the bullets and eliminate them!" Magha yelled, creating a bone staff out of ash. He struck the ground with his staff, enchanting all his skeletons with magical power. "Bahahaha!"
The skeletons didn't break through a single round of ammunition, rather they broke in 3 magazines. They were tough, bones rock solid and began taking down the military personnel with ease.
"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!" Jaxton ordered, leaving the vicinity.
"Oh? Well I'll be damned. Running away? Only a coward would do so!" Magha snickered. The skeletons diverted their attention to Jaxton and the group who tried to flee.
"Get to the chopper!" Jaxton yelled. He stood his ground and bought some time, barely able to reach the helicopter as it took off.
"Where do we go? And what do we do with Elias?" Rae questioned. Elias had fallen into a state of paralysis, body asleep and mind unconscious. Was this the true power of Magha? Perhaps it was only the weak side of him. A much sinister force stood aside him, his spirit casting an ethereal shadow to the environment.
Magha was one of the more tyrannical underlords of Ajespa that worked beside Malvorr. The history of Ajespa is extensive, and it is worth understanding. It was assumed that more than 2000 years ago, an alien race discovered the planet named "Earth" that had vast amounts of Orichalcum. Before Rae's father, Kareth, destroyed the planet, the race was rather governed by a group of men instead of the monarchy Rae knew.
Their names? Karana, Sadana, Rukana and Behatar. The group was not to be underestimated, they had awakened the power of the stars. They were so strong that no one would dare to challenge them. Except one, an underlord. His name was Kareth and he was able to overthrow the entire system, promising a better world without the constant need to rely on Orichalcum.
Though this turned out to become one of the worst disasters that had struck the Jespans, wiping out most of its population. Kareth didn't kill the group, rather he imprisoned them on Earth by using the power of Orichalcum. For centuries they slept within the mountains of East Timor, waiting for the day where they would be resurrected. Only then would pure terror rise.
What were the underlords to the kings? Yes, they did swear devotion and loyalty, but there was something more. The chaos and power those kings had reigned supreme as they had travelled the cosmos, finding new pieces of technology. They struck terror and fear over planets, but for Earth, it was different. It was abundant and diverse in life, something Behatar had never seen.