Heaven Saga 2: Sands of Aquarius (24 page)

“Miv
Daek is my name Terran,” she turned to Mira. “You’re stronger than you look
little girl.”

Shiken
Ka made his way over to the gathering and noticed Miv Daek had beaten him
there. She turned and saluted her fellow noble.

“I
had a feeling you’d be here waiting Miv,” he said before saluting her.

“I’ve
heard you’ve taken a blood oath with this Terran,” she said. “If the reports of
his exploits in battle are correct then I’m not surprised.”

“I
can assure you all of the reports are accurate,” Shiken answered. “On another
subject, why are you and your soldiers here?”

Miv
pointed to the grand tower at the center of the city. “Trai Gor wishes to meet
with you and Brian.”

“What
about the meeting of the High Council?” Shiken asked.

“The
other five noble families refuse to meet with the Terran here,” Miv explained.
“But if my family and Gor’s decide to go with your decision the other five have
little choice in the matter.”

“Very
well,” Shiken said. His soldiers and Miv Daek’s surrounded Brian and Mira.
Shiken Ka waved his hand. “Follow us.”

Brian
nodded, with Mira doing likewise as the force of ground troops marched towards
the palace of the Gor family.

“It’s
amazing to see this in person,” Mira said. “The palaces on Kalaidia have nothing
on these.”

“I
agree,” Brian said.

The
troupe stopped at the base of the tower at the center of the city, the palace
of Trai Gor, and ruler of Shandi Prime. The guards all confirmed the identities
of those entering before opening the stone doors to the interior. It was only a
few moments into the palace when they entered the throne room, a large
hypostyle chamber with a single seat at the far end. There stood a powerfully
built male Shandi, clad in armor with a falchion sheathed on his back. As they
approached, Brian and Mira noticed the leader was elderly, but still quite
vital. He turned to acknowledge the group as all the Shandi saluted their
leader. Brian and Mira stood fast, not sure how to act. Trai Gor moved down
from his pedestal and went straight to Brian, looking the Terran eye to eye.

“For
many months now I’ve wished to see you in person Brian Peterson. The rumors of
your strength have nothing compared to what I see today,” Trai Gor said before
looking over to Shiken Ka and Miv Daek. Brian stepped forward with his hand
out.

“On
behalf of my people, I thank you for this audience Trai Gor,” he said. Trai Gor
took his hand and shook it vigorously.

“Are
you speaking as a servant of Captain Valis or as a Terran?” Trai Gor asked.

“Both,”
Brian responded. “I was sent by Captain Valis as a representative of the Kein
family but I’m also the first of my people to visit your world Trai Gor. And
from what I’ve seen it’s quite impressive.”

“On
behalf of my people I accept your kindness.” He called off his guards. “Now, let’s
get to the matter at hand,” the Shandi lord turned to Shiken Ka, “In the
message you sent me you told me this man here is the Knight of Aquarius, a figure
long forgotten since the rulership of the priesthood,” he turned to Brian, “Do
you know anything about this
Maigar
?”

“No,
I know nothing about this,” Brian answered.

Shiken
moved forward. “There’s a place I need to take all of you. When I was young I
entered a temple of the ancients on the edge of the old city. There, buried in
the sands of time is the secret of Brian.”

“How
is that even possible?” Mira asked.

Trai
Gor turned to Mira. “Long ago, around the same time the Teacher came to your
world, a being of similar nature appeared on our world. Most of our race knows
little about it, largely because the secrets of the priesthood died when they
fell from power. The legends say a two tailed being came from the sky. The two
tails signify legs like yours,” Trai Gor explained as he pointed to Brian’s
legs. “Kalaidians have the closest figure in their religious texts to this
mythical being.”

“But
we have given up all the old ways, have we not?” Miv Daek asked. “Are we to
take the words of false prophets so literally?”

“True,”
Trai Gor responded. “To take the words of the ancients at face value is a
blunder.”

Shiken
motioned to speak. “I know it’s hard to believe,” He looked at Brian with
scrutinizing eyes, “And memories are fleeting at best. But you must trust what
I’ve seen has proven to me all that I need. For confirmation I’ll take you to
the ruins.”

“What’s
there?” Miv Daek asked.

“Something
that will prove beyond a doubt what I’m saying is the truth.”

* * *

Shiken
checked his scanner a few times to make sure the temple was still there. He
turned to Brian. “Please blow away the sand. Below it is the temple I want
everyone to see.”

Mira
stepped back to allow Brian the room to draw his
rakna
. With a few spins
over his head he slashed forward and blew away the sand. Just below where they
stood was the entrance to an ancient temple. Trai Gor moved signaled for the
others to follow.

“Is
this the place you spoke of?” Trai Gor asked Shiken.

“Yes.
It’ll take us a few hours to reach the room in question,” Shiken said as he
took the lead. Behind him followed Brian. Mira clasped his arm while the rest
followed cautiously. For what felt like eternity the group moved through the
ancient temple, marveling at its preservation, as well as the stories held within
the murals.

Shiken
put his hand up to stop the group following him and pointed to a narrow
hallway. “At the other end of this hall is the place I saw the statue of Brian
all those years ago.”

He
moved into the hallway as the others followed. After a few minutes the hall
opened up into a massive chamber. When Brian and Mira stepped inside, the floor
started glowing in a pattern. The light originated at the statue at the center
and moved towards each of the side walls.  Brian and Mira stood near the center,
transfixed on the statue at the center. The nobles followed in with shocked looks
on their faces as they saw a statue resembling Brian at the center.

“Two
thousand years ago the Teacher visited our world,” Shiken Ka said. “And he left
this as his beacon to the future.” he moved next to Brian and placed a hand on
the human’s shoulder, “How he knew a man looking like you was to come to us is
beyond me.”

Mira
walked over to the statue. She turned around, looking Brian up and down. “It
matches everything.” She brushed away at the inscription and read it as best
she could, “The Knight of Aquarius.”

“Aquarius
is my birth sign from Earth,” Brian said. He stared at the statue. “I have no
explanation for this.”

“Is
it the will of Kali?” Mira asked

Shiken
moved forward. “In the days of old we believed in gods. But today we’re
different. It’s my belief that the Teacher was a Terran who transcended his
nature and became something far greater than a mortal.”

“There
are a number of people from my world who’ve been said to have done that in history.
But still…” Brian paused and placed a hand on the inscribed plaque. At that
moment the eyes on the statue began glowing blue and a strange blue aura
covered Brian. Mira held him tight. Shiken backed away and saw their eyes
glowing with the light of the berserk. Around them the light flowed down eight
paths to a panel in the stone walls opening at each point.

“What
is this?” Trai Gor asked.

Shiken
looked at each of the eight points and found an inscribed panel at the base of
each. “The Teacher left behind a message before leaving our planet.”

What
is this place?
Brian thought as he opened his eyes to see a vast sea of fuzzy blue and green.
Turning, he saw Mira holding his arm.

“Where
are we?” she asked.

“I
don’t know,” he answered.

Mira
pointed to lights floating off in the distance. “Brian, look!”

Far
away on Kalaidia Prime, Celestia sat at her desk enjoying a glass wine when her
eyes began glowing blue. She dropped her glass and looked into the mirror,
seeing Myden standing behind her. His black eyes started glowing blue as well.

“What’s
happening?” she asked.

“
The
Warrior is calling to the Maidens. I’ve only seen this place once before.
Myden
closed his eyes and took her hands with his. “
This is where he’ll learn the
truth.”

Valis,
Kivi, and Zae stood around the battle planning table discussing their next move
when their eyes began glowing blue.

“Captain,”
Zae said with confusion in her voice.

“It’s
the berserk state,” Kivi said.

Valis
narrowed her eyes, searching. “I can hear his voice calling to me.”

Zae
pointed to the stars in the sky above them. “It’s coming from here.”

“Shandi
Prime,” Kivi said.

Seles
sat up from her bed as a strange wave of energy entered her. Looking into the
mirror she saw that her eyes were glowing.

“Seles,”
Baed said with fear in her voice.

Seles
pushed aside her curtain to see her cousin’s eyes were glowing.

“I
hear a voice in my head,” Baed said. “I think its Brian.”

Seles
hugged her as each closed their eyes. “I can hear him as well. He’s calling for
us, just relax and let it happen.”

“Thanks
Seles.”

Celi
stood in the medical lab alone when she felt a strange surge fill her body.
Rubbing her eyes, she saw a strange blue glow emerging from her eyes. She knelt
down, holding her head in her hands. Suddenly she snapped back up and faced the
ceiling.

“I
can hear you Brian. I’m coming.”

As
the strange glowing lights approached Brian and Mira they began making out that
they were their crewmates, along with Celestia and Myden. Each stood perplexed
in a circle when Myden made his way to the middle.

“It
looks like you found the power spot Brian,”
Myden said.

“Yes,”
Brian
said before looking at all the others. He saw confusion on all their faces. “Where
is this place?”

“There
are many names for what this place is, but I believe the closest term for this
from Earth is the Akashic Records, or Universal Database,” Myden explained. “Everything
that ever was and exists now is recorded her.”
He turned to the Kalaidians next
to him, “I believe your people would refer to this place as the Recorder of the
Grand Stage. If Kali exists she watches from this place and sees everything.”

“If
this place is a database for knowledge then why don’t we see any of it right
now?” Valis asked.

Brian
looked around and then closed his eyes. “This is only the entry point. To find
knowledge we must travel deeper into the sea.” He opened his eyes and saw a
path open up before him. “We must be careful to not lose ourselves in this
place because we might not be able to return.”

“Why
are we here?”
Seles asked.

“The
Teacher left behind a message for all the older races before he departed the
existence we all know,” Myden said. “Of the Great Dragon three will come, the Teacher
who will show the Path, then will come the Warrior, who will lead them upon the
Path, and finally the Goddess, who will open the door to paradise.”
He turned to
Brian. “The specific message left by the Teacher was that the Warrior would
call for the Five Maidens, the Three Wisemen, and the twenty seven stars.”

“Did
you say five maidens?”
Celi asked. “I say that because there are eight of us here.”

Myden
nodded. “The Teacher was not a fool when he left the marks on your ancestors.
He intended for more than five for a simple reason.”

“If
one of us died another could take our place,”
Mira said.

“Yes,”
Myden said. “For
example, your younger sister no doubt carries the same mark as you Celi.”

“If
that’s true then why isn’t she here?”
Celi asked.

“She
is, it just took her a little longer to get here,”
Brian said. He
looked down at his left side and saw the cute little Kalaidian girl he met on
Kalaidia Prime. She looked around, confused. Seeing her big sister, the little
girl ran over to Celi.

“Sis,
what’s happening?”
the little girl asked.

Celi
knelt down and hugged her little sister, “Don’t worry Kyli, everything’s
alright. Just stay next to me and nothing will happen to you.”

“The
Teacher’s plan was to be executed without issue,” Myden explained. “Even if one
or all of you fall another waits to take your place. The same pertains to me,
Brian, and the others who aren’t here at the moment.”