The street was bustling with new life. Sounds of different muss and voices filled the air. Everyone had smiley faces as they interacted with one another.
…Everybody apart from two kids, whose expressions were so grim as they dragged their feet along the floor. Not from exhaustion, but from annoyance.
"Come, come. This thing I have here with me …" A vendor tried to get their attention but the thought was immediately dispersed as soon as he saw the look in their eyes.
"Hey kids are you lost. Where are your parents?" A woman asked them. Dylan only gave her a glance before continuing dragging his feet, the sound probably enough to drown the noise around them.
They still couldn't forget the image of the Old man's mangled corpse. Last night, he was still telling them of his experience with these … supernatural beings, who knew the next day; he would be killed by these beings.
Dylan completely agreed with Alex's words. They were truly cursed. This was the second time. First it was Chiron, and now the seemingly innocent old man. They didn't even get to know his name.
Between the two, it was safe to say Dylan had it worst. He knew none of this was actually Alex's fault, but his only.
Finally they were there; the residence of Old Man Jin as they called him. The house was big, perhaps even compared to a mansion. It had three gates but as Dylan and Alex passed through, they met nobody. Not even a single soul.
They went straight into the house and there they saw him, seemingly relaxing with a pipe in his mouth.
"Man Jin!" Dylan wanted to shout, but Old Man Jin voiced out.
"Ah – I didn't expect you two back so soon, more so, alive and kicking," Old Man Jin turned to look at them and winked.
He was still wearing the same cloth they had always seen him wear. A yellow loincloth with nothing special about it.
Compared to the now dead old man, Old Man Jin was clearly older, but one could also call him younger.
His long hair which was almost reached his waist was completely white, same with his abnormally long goatee. Could it still be called a goatee? His eyeballs and surprisingly even his eyelids were completely white. In short, every strand of hair on him was white, which also includes the hairs in his nose.
His back was hunched and he was thin, every of his bones showcasing themselves to the outside world.
Alas, those were the only things that gave him as an old man.
In contrast to his hair, his skin was bright and one could even mistake it to be glowing. No sign of wrinkles existed on his unnaturally smooth skin, and his eyes, these eyes that looked life they'd seen different lifetimes, yet at the same time looked innocent. Those eyes that seemed to look through you once they lay on you.
Alex took a mental note to ask Old Man Jin what cream he was using so he could recommend it to his mum.
Old Man Jin squinted his eyes, almost closing them
"You lads have grown older, no?"
"It's just a day, you old freak!" Dylan dropped his bag on a couch and sat beside it, staring intently at the old man.
"I'm aware" Old Man Jin shot back, and even squinted his eyes further. It's just that your aura is stronger,. I could already sense you from miles away."
"What are you? A dog?"
Old Man Jin ignored dylan's remarks as he sat up, which looked extremely odd, with his hunched back. "Did you finally learn more about yourselves? Ah, that's it. Tell me about your experience in the last few …..Hours"
Dylan shot from his seat toward the old man, his dagger stopping only inches from his neck.
"You old hag. You tricked us!" Dylan's voice shook the whole house. "You told us Lutis knows a safe place for us. Instead we caused his death and that of his students. Even the innocent old man!"
"I see…" Old Man Jin tilted his head to the side, so he gets a clear view of Dylan's face. "You've gotten a new weapon and it looks nice. Did you also steal it?"
Dylan almost lost his mind that he tried stabbing Old Man Jin, but found himself unable to do so. It was strange in a way, since he could move his mand backward but not forward. It was like an invincible force was stopping his from moving an inch…forward.
Dylan didn't let that discourage him though. He took his second dagger and did the same thing, but just like the other, it only stopped short fom touching Old Man Jin's neck. Dylan tried and retried but still failed.
Old Man Jin calmly watched as Dylan tried to kill him over and over again. And when he thought it was enough, he flicked his fingers and an invincible hand dragged Dylan back to his seat.
"Why…why," Dylan broke down in tears and began to weep.
"Why is this happening to us. You promised us once we find Lutis, he'll help us to a safe place where we can live in peace, away from all troubles of the world. Why did you lie to us?"
"Point of correction kid, I didn't lie to you," Old Man Jin clearly not bothered by Dylan's waterfall of tears nonchalantly answered. "Lutis…or Chiron as most know him, does know of a safe place. After all he was, I think their camp director two centuries ago. How am I to know he resigned to train centaurs instead?"
Old Man Jin took in a shot on his pipe and exhaled sharply, "I was not ready to tell you this, but since Chiron already explained who you are to you, I guess it's time for me to reveal to you…"
"Why you still do not have a wife?" Alex blurted out.
"No kid, stop killing the flow" Old Man Jin grumbled, "You must have heard about the mist."
Alex shook his head.
"Have you wondered why the two of you see things normal people can't see. You get chased by monsters these normal monsters see as a cute puppy?"
"Because we are … what did Chiron call it…?"
"…demigods."
"Partly," Old Man Jin inhaled on his pipe, "You see, the main reason is because of the mist."
Alex sat up. Even Dylan, sprawled on the floor raised his head, interested in what the old man had to say.
"I guess you guys already know about these beings that reside in the immortal world. Gods, that's what they are called."
"Gods? Like Odin, Zeus the god of thunder. The god of homework?"
"That's right lad…I however do not think there is any god of homework."
"A lie! Mum said the god of homework would reward you whenever you do your homework early and correctly. That's why I never miss any of my homework." Alex said
"Do not get me wrong. There might be, err…a god of homework but I do not know of him or her. After all, a lot of minors have been popping up lately."
"Minors?"
"That aside. However, every of these gods have at least one thing they own or better still are in control of. Like Zeus being the god of thunder, Apollo the Sun god; Hecate is the goddess that controls the mist." said Old Man Jin.
From the looks the boys had on their faces, Old Man Jin was sure they had lots of questions and it was starting to frustrate him.
"The mist can be defined in so many ways, but I would like for you to see it as a barrier. A veil that divided this world from the world of immortals."
Old Man Jin snapped his fingers and a screen appeared in front of him.
"The mist does not necessarily erase what I sent the other side, instead it alters it. Now look at me,"
Alex looked at Old Man Jin but instead of the old man he had always known, he appeared as a young man in the prime of his time.
"But for those with keen eyes and enough mental strength, they would know the image before them is not necessarily real."
Alex stared intently at Old Man Jin and even squinted a little bit. And yes, he could finally see Old Man Jin as what he was supposed to be…an old man.
"So it's just like an illusion?" Alex muttered
"It's more like…an A.I"
"Artificial Intelligence?"
"Actual Illusion. It's an illusion but at the same time real" Old Man Jin said which only confused them more.
"It would take me approximately a year to explain to you the basics I know about the mist" Old Man Jin said "the mist also acts as a balance for the world at large. It keeps the two worlds separate"
"But we demigods are like a mixture of the two worlds?" Dylan said.
"And what do you think you are? Cursed, am I right?"
Alex and Dylan looked at each other in disbelief.
"H…how did you know?"
Old Man Jin only waved the question away. "You are right in a way but you're more than just being cursed. Your kind is a calamity, a disaster that has to be exterminated."
"T…thanks for the compliment,"
Old Man Jin snapped his finger and a plank appeared floating on the air. Two bricks also appeared on the two ends.
"And what do you think would happen once this barrier is suddenly destroyed?" He asked
"The two worlds will meet!"
"It will collapse!"
The two bricks collided in the middle and due to the sudden force, the plank shattered
Old Man Jin's expression suddenly turned serious.
"And that is exactly what will happen if you don't stop it!" HE declared in a loud voice, clearly not befitting for an old man like him.
"And that is exactly what will happen if you don't stop it!" HE declared in a loud voice, clearly not befitting for an old man like him.
It was obvious the teenagers still understand a thing he was saying and Old Man Jin was feeling like pulling out his hairs.
"Look here, the mist is more complex that you think. Alex," Old Man Jin looked at Alex, "How would you explain the incidence in school. If I'm right, you remember Ms. Ella telling you to push the car and at the same time, also remember you bringing it up yourself. And you Dylan…" He turned away from Alex to look at Dylan, who was already seated.
"How would you explain what happened to the basement. You remember sleeping in your room the whole day and at the same time remember going to the basement to burn it because you were angry at her"
Dylan shuddered hearing this. Her?
"…"
"…"
How did he know about this? Was exactly what the two demigods were thinking right now?
This was an incidence they had never told to anyone. Even when the old man narrated his experience, they only stayed silent. How on earth did Old Man Jin know about it?
He could throw someone across a room with just a flick of his hand, summon things with a snap of his fingers and also knew 'everything' about their life. Like seriously, what exactly was he?
"The truth is, your thoughts were right. Alex didn't bring up the idea and Dylan; you didn't burn down the basement. All of these are just tricks of the mist."
"B…but how's that possible. I swear, when I went to the basement, It was completely down. Could it be that, mother…"
"That's why I call it A.I –." Old Man Jin let out a groan, "The mist is so complicated even I find some things weird…
"The thing is Hecate has been captured by some forces and her planning to use her, for the gods knows what. But whatever they are planning to do with her, the two of you have to stop it."
"The two of us? Why?"
"Because that's what the prophesy says."
"What prophesy?" The teenagers looked at each other questioningly
"You don't know?" Old man Jin raised an eyebrow, and like an invisible force yanked open their brain and pulled it out, they remembered.
* * * TO BE CONTINUED * * *