"Oxette! Oxette!!" The MOGRAI cried. "that boy defied the purge stand, so leave me to do what am supposed to do."
"I won't let you." Gregor said with a firm voice.
"Then you're in my way."
Gregor Oxette and the Mograi were both poised for a fight, like the tail of a squirrel the Mograi's only wing on its back had curved over its head with petrified feathers at the tip aimed at Gregor. Gregor on the other hand took a defensive but offense pose, with his left and right hands clouded with a smoke-like Black and White mist respectively.
Gregor knew the Mograi was bent on killing the boy, but why? He couldn't accept the annoying phrase the Mograi sprouted now and then about the boy defying the purge stand as the real reason behind such intent to kill. So he tried to see if the Mograi would open up a bit by agitating it.
But the Mograi's mind was made up. It wanted to kill the boy, and there lay the boy on the ground behind him, almost unconscious. His blood was dripping fast, Gregor couldn't let the boy die, so he decided to put out his mysterious cloud of smoke off his hands and talk to the Mograi.
"Hmm..." Gregor muttered as he stroked his chin. " I was thinking..."
"Yes, you thought well, the boy should be wiped away." The Mograi said as it changed its aim towards Aaron.
"You know, I was thinking of healing the boy."
"Healing the boy?!" The Mograi's voice was both furious and surprised.
Without time to waste and knowing the Mograi now aimed for the boy, Gregor quickly continued.
"If the boy, of his own will could bring himself here then I suspect there are others whom are willing just like him... of course he should know alot of persons his age who have the mark of the midnight. And we know fully well time's running out and my son can't be the only one to be purged. Let's use the boy to bring in others his age who are marked by the midnight."
The petrified feathers at the tip of the Mograi's back wing had become normal again, and not only that, the Mograi's voice was now as calm as a soft flowing river.
"I see... i must confess Gregor Oxette, you really know how to turn most situations in your favour... I'll let you heal the boy."
Gregor quickly knelt beside Aaron. With his right hand now clouded with the smoke-like White mist, he placed his palm over Aaron's nose and mouth in what looked like a strangling session.
"I know you can breathe, so please try breathing." Gregor said with a smile.
Aaron was seconds away from being unconscious, all he could see was blurry images. But yet he could still hear properly. He could feel someones palm covering his mouth and nose and then he heard the word: I know you can breathe, so please try breathing. He did breathe, infact he deeply inhaled the nice fragrance coming from the palm and within seconds his body system had changed, he could see clearly, he didn't feel like someone who was about going unconscious.
Aaron could see Gregor's right hand covered in some White smoke-like mist , he could tell that was where the fragrance he inhaled had come from. Duke was standing beside his father– who stretched out his right hand to Aaron.
"I thought you were going to fall asleep even after i healed you, because you lost alot of blood."
Aaron took Gregor's right hand as he pushed himself up with his left hand off the ground. So much blood on the ground, Aaron could feel it with his left hand.
"I wanted you to sleep for some an hour or two and then I would wake you up minutes before the midnight, so you don't get the mark."
"Am greatful sir for your kindness." Aaron bowed politely before hearing a familiar calm voice.
It's the Mograi! does it want to kill...
"Oxette... your son should follow metro the purge stand, there is no time."
"Thank goodness it wasn't going to kill me." Aaron thought to himself.
The Mograi was referring to Duke, but Aaron didn't understand how it came to this, but he was sure it was Gregor Oxette doing.
Duke followed the Mograi. As they all watched, Duke stood on one of the nearest purge stand while the Mograi's wing– both back and front simultaneously stood in one accord as the low bright light on the purge stand increased in vertical height passing through the body of Duke like a visible x-ray. This made Duke stand temporarily fixed on the purge stand.
Aaron could now see some black markings on Duke's neck. He recalled the Mograi had told them that only itself and some privileged individuals like Gregor Oxette could see it. And at that time he couldn't see it, but why now? Aaron played calm and decided to continue watching the purging process.
The marking on Duke's left side of his neck erased totally, but that wasn't all, another large mark immediately drew itself on Duke's left side of his neck. Aaron turned to see if Duke's dad had noticed what happened, but it seemed like Gregor Oxette was clueless on this one.
And not only could Aaron just see the new large mark on Duke's neck, but some eerie feel oozed out of it. So how on earth could Gregor Oxette– Duke's dad not see, tell or feel what just happened.
After the erasure of the midnight mark off Duke's neck, the Mograi quickly disappeared into thin air, it said it was going to camouflage with nature until time comes. And Gregor quickly explained that he had lied to Duke about the midnight meeting you twice in your sleep before your doom would be sealed. He laughed it off saying that it was just a trick to make Duke not to fall asleep carelessly, he wanted Duke to take drastic action even after letting the midnight meet up with him from the proclaimed date– 6th of June.
Gregor now revealed it's actually 4 times– if the midnight meets you four times, then your doom is sealed, there's no way you're going to escape the punishment Death himself is about to rain down. Aaron and Duke could feel the seriousness in Gregor's explanation.
Aaron also knew something was wrong somewhere, after all he saw the murderous intent with which the Mograi had stared at him while it disappeared into thin air. The Mograi is hiding something, something that even Gregor Oxette and perhaps the whole of the DS org and Omi doesn't have a clue about.
Aaron and Duke was quickly briefed on what to do.
"Arrange for those marked by the midnight, those you know of that are willing, bring them here by night. If they don't come willingly, then by the 3rd day the DS org will take care of things." Gregor said as they quietly walked together.
~~~~~~
After describing where he lived, Aaron immediately found himself at the front of his house. He knew it was Gregor's doing. He quietly climbed into the house via the window of his favourite room(spot) and walked into the room where be was supposed to join his younger brother Alan to sleep. He quietly woke Alan and waited for his brother's eyes to fight away the sleep.
"Big brother, you're so late. I had to lie to mum and dad that you had to do some personal study alone at your favourite spot." Alan said in low tones.
After a smile and some seconds of hugs Aaron tried his best to summarize everything to Alan.
"So what are the plagues then?" Alan asked.
"I don't really know myself, but the midnight mark should be part of it and who knows once it's midnight again, maybe another plague might show up."
"Big brother, the first one was a dream and i got marked, maybe the second could still be a dream as well as the person getting a mark for the second time."
Aaron could clearly see the markings on Alan's neck just like Duke's. This prompted him to give Mika a call, he wanted to reduce the odds of his friend getting his fate sealed by not letting the midnight meet him up in his sleep.
After the 8th consecutive call, someone picked. It was Mika.
"Hello!! do not sleep, do not sleep... please do not sleep until after midnight!"
The recipient was quiet for a while, prompting Aaron to inquire if it was really Mika he was talking to.
Mika replied in a confused tone.
"Why shouldn't i sleep? You're scaring me, after all i was sleeping before you woke me up with your calls."
Aaron heaved a sigh and summarised everything to Mika while on the phone. Mika was quiet and surprised. Mika never doubted Aaron. So he followed Aaron's instructions. So the terrible nightmare be had last night and the blabbering of Duke at the cinema was no joke.
Meanwhile it was some few minutes before midnight, Aaron, Alan and Mika and the rest who was fortunate enough to know about the midnight and it's markings waited. They waited for the second plague to unfold.
12am had clocked and nothing happened, everything seemed normal until 10 minutes later when loud painful screams where heard simultaneously from the neighborhood and even from the streets of Omi city. It was the second plague.
Now it was clear the nightmares were becoming a reality, The nightmares were affecting people physically. It was an Incarnated Nightmare.
~~~~~~~
8pm of the second day Alan my younger brother and Mika were all cleansed of their midnight markings, although what happened to Duke on the purge stand repeated itself to Alan and Mika.
12am clocked again marking the 3rd day and it happened again— the plagues, the Incarnated Nightmares. This time the DSorg took care of it. The DSorg were waiting for some light bearers (priests) to give the them the go ahead before they began their duties.
The commotion from the Incarnated Nightmares didn't allow the DSorg purge many individuals as they were tasked with bringing Omi city out of the present Terror.
But on the night before the 12am of the 4th day, a man called Novak Bell of the DSorg was sent to use his mysterious abilities to draw out what am sure was almost the whole population of Omi city to the christened path, There each and everyone one of them took turns to stand on the purge stand to get their marks erased. Yet I was the only one who saw the new large eerie mark on their necks after the first one got erased.
12am clocked, it was the 4th day. Nothing happened, Novak Bell quietly dispersed the Omi citizens that had been purged to their various homes with the help of his mysterious abilities.
The 4th day passed, so did the 5th and the 6th and everything seemed perfect, until 12am of the 7th day as stated: Half a fortnight, after the diminishing of the plagues Death will arrive in his Incarnate form.
It was time for the Anti-Ascension...
In the middle of Omi city, Death himself had descended... I Aaron could see his Incarnated form with my eyes and so were others.
*So many things were revealed... so many things... Before DEATH swung his sword and dropped a curse in the middle of the Earth's core to checkmate BALANCE.
All this events paved way for the SIAMESE clan and the Levites who are citizens of a particular realm— RIO SPHERE.
CHANGE FILLED THE AIR*...