It was lunchtime and the cafeteria food as per usual was nothing short of disgusting. Mino however kept Alex's hopes and morale up for the day.
"Ugh, I've got work today it's gonna kill me."
Alex complained.
"Where do you work again?"
Mino asked while chewing a meatball.
"The Zoo, how many times do I have to tell you?"
Mino chuckled and simply gave Alex an amused expression.
"what's that look supposed to mean?"
Mino gave him another dubious look and simply wiped the spaghetti stains off his sweatshirt.
"It means.. I have a shit memory and that you just like to repeat yourself a lot."
It was an abnormally hot day and both Alex and Mino were worried about it hitting more than 110 degrees.
"It never really cools down in this Godforsaken city does it?"
Alex snickered.
Mino Chuckled. He leaned back on the steps to the library. The high school they attended was centered around the library which stood atop a fifty foot tall mound and was surrounded by the rest of the school buildings so the view from the steps overlooked most, if not all of Talon. The city itself had a huge downtown area about almost twice the size of San Francisco and just barely a little smaller than New York. Washington D.C. was to the west of them and New York to the east, Talon was smack dab in between the two cities.
Arcadia Oak's High was some twenty five miles outside downtown and yet they could still see it as clear as day. The high school itself was atop a relatively good sized mountain range thus they experience relatively no traffic or highway troubles.
Which was funny to Alex considering this was a public school but they were only roughly four or five roads to reach the school itself and was on top of a fucking mountain of all places.
The suburbs were around fifteen miles away in all directions so most if not all students drove or took the bus. Alex preferred to take his bike, saying it was "good for exercise." Mino still didn't believe that because of how steep the mountain was so he still wondered how Alex made it on time to class every day.
Either way their lunch was over and it was time for the rest of the day.
Mino yawned and stretched his arms all giraffe-like and stared solemnly towards the rest of Talon. He missed Japan so much. He brushed off the feelings however as he realized Alex was staring at him with a soft spoken look. As if he knew exactly what Mino was thinking,
"Stop doing that."
Mino said playfully as he punched him.
Alex laughed and merely walked down the steps as the sun began to set. It was winter and Alex hated how early the days had become.
"Let's get going ok?"
Mino merely smiled, he couldn't wait for what would come.
____________
It was late at night after his shift from the Zoo Alex was once again dreaming about Rasputon.
The dream then shifted.
He saw Rasputon sitting, leaning forward over the body of a Greenspike knight. A young squire, twelve years old by the looks of it and he had a hatchet stuck in his skull. Alex could feel the sorrow and guilt welling up from within the king. Rasputon was brutal, but was only brutal to those who deserved it. This soldier, this child did not. Rasputon believed this war he had waged was once justified and righteous, but his own flame of ambition had died out after this final battle. Emboldened by that very same flame he lost the love of his life and almost his whole kingdom with Castle Selene along with it.
"Why?"
The king asked.
It was necessary my love, for the greater good, for your kingdom, our kingdom we must persevere and prevail against the Greenspikes you know this as well as I do.
"No."
The king shouted.
"No more. No more shall innocent children die, no more shall any other being suffer under my watch, no more shall you, my love, control my hand as if I was a mere puppet. No more."
What?
She uttered in disbelief.
"You heard me witch. For too long have I listened to your poison fill my ear with silvery talk and butterflies, you do not live in this world anymore."
The Wraith was taken aback by the king's newfound conviction.
"Slene you once had shown me how to live life but you are not the woman I once loved, not anymore. Your silver tongue and even more silvery beauty intoxicated my mind and my thoughts."
The king huffed out.
what are you saying? Everything I've done, I did for us, for you!
"No thou did as thou willed. For thyself and only thyself my love."
The king said brokenly.
Streams of tears silently fell down the king's face and he knew what he had to do, even though he knew it would be nigh impossible and almost as painful. He grimaced with determination and pulled the hatchet from the young boy. The blood splashing across Rasputon's smooth face. His impossibly white hair glistened in the moonlight despite his young age. His unusual silver eyes were grim and almost lifeless, no flame of ambition existed within those glistening pupils anymore.
Throughout the lands between and the twin realms, Rasputon was known as the Lunar king, the Silver hero and a countless stream of other nicknames. However, there was one coveted more then all else, a name that immediately came to the front of Alex's mind. One Rasputon himself was cursing during these very moments and has been for centuries.
"Conduit no more."
Was all Rasputon said.
He drew his knife and hatchet and readied himself. Both mentally and physically for what was about to occur. A horrible fate for his beloved but hopefully redemption for himself. Some may call him selfish or cruel but he did not care anymore, he had sacrificed so much and for what? A worthless kingdom suffering with even more problems then before he had become king? A politically complex court system too corrupt for its own good? An army filled with nothing but immoral and bloodthirsty mercenaries?
No. He refused. No more.
The full moon flew across the night sky illuminating all of Castle Selene and that of his beloved.
"I'm sorry Slene, but this is it."
He whispered solemnly.
No! What are you doing? Rasputon stop! If you do this I will be banished I will never be reincarnated the same as you please, I beg of you my love you know this will destroy everything I worked for! I will have no peace.
That triggered Rasputon and he looked at her incredulously.
"You worked for? Don't make me laugh Slene, I didn't wanna believe it but I was right about you. You're nothing but a liar and greedy power hungry whore. It's always you, you, and nothing but you. My brother was right about you. I should've listened to him, yet you made me kill him! You made me kill Rodrick!"
He screeched with all his might.
"My own flesh and blood!"
He whimpered.
I was forced to my love how would you ever truly love me if all you're enemies weren't vanquished?
"Enemies?"
He cocked an eyebrow and turned towards her.
Her reddish hue was darker and the faint gentle orange light that was once her spiritual presence was gone. It was now replaced with an anger that could be felt for miles.
"He was my brother!"
He exclaimed with ferocity and fury only known to few in the world.
He released an intense guttural roar placing both his weapons at the center of his chest, his heart, and searched intently into the inner depths of his soul for the arcane required for the spell to detach himself from his wraith.
It might kill him but he would rather suffer death then bondage to a woman like that. His unending perseverance and the tenets he lived by would not allow it. Although Rasputon loved Slene with all his heart he couldn't fathom the destruction and havoc she could wreak across the twin realms if she were left unchecked. Her duty as wraith and guardian of one of the conduits had finally ended.
From the depths of his soul he let out a devastating shriek of both power, pain, and regret. His arms began a familiar glow, a glow you could not know. His arms and feet and legs and face all became almost transparent and Slene could only watch in horror, she could do nothing.
How could she, her own husband was going to kill her to prevent her own evil from spreading across the twin realms. As a wraith she not only corrupted but twisted what it meant to be a guide to the conduits and she spat on both the customs and responsibilities that came with the title. So, Rasputon decided it would be better if they both left this world and at the very least they could be together in the afterlife.
"The Selenium age ends here."
He said with finality.
His body glowed an orange hue and his skeleton could even be seen with the transparency, and he exploded with unending power. The explosion shocked the twin worlds, Both mortals in the human realm and all other beings in the lands between and that of the Arcanic world felt the death of the Lunar King. He not only took himself and his wife the Wraith Slene with him but left his royal capitol of Selene in ruins. Both Castle Selene and the innermost part of that city were destroyed save for the outer districts and slums.
This example, this show of force by the Lunar King was so powerful and the blast of magick and Arcanic energy was so tremendous many wizards, sorcerers, and conjurers of the mystic arts could only be in awe at the flow of magick that attacked them. However, for the every day peasant living within Arcania it simply looked like a mushroom cloud.
"It was such a powerful blast of magick and so unnerving for the twin realms that myself the Lunar King and my wife Slene would be remembered for millennia. Alex you are like me, one of the Conduits of these lands."
"What?"
Was all Alex could muster to say.
"Yes, you are like me. A Conduit. these visions you have been witnessing are from millennia ago they are the past, a precursor of a past you inherited from me. you are chosen, you were born with conduit blood in you. However unlike all other conduits existing currently you were born in the primordial world of humans, the land of Arcadia, not Arcania the land from which I hail from and the world that should be kept separate from yours. However a great evil seeks to conquer your world, he is a plague and an entity that leaked from mine to yours. You must seek him out and destroy him lest your world fall to his malice and maliciousness."
"I must be going crazy because what the actual fuck are you talking about. I must be going crazy this is a dream I need to get out, just let me out already!"
Alex began to start screaming and he woke up in his bed. He knew it was just a dream. Only until he saw a luminescent elf dawned in heaver ornamental armor standing in the corner of his room staring at him very intently. He chuckled and thought he was dreaming again.
"AHHHHHHH."
His mother came bursting into the room and the elf disappeared as quickly as it came.
"Why are you screaming you're gonna be late for school!
"She said intently picking up his laundry and throwing it into the basket she was holding."
Alex checked the clock
It read 7:15, school starts at 7:30.
"Shit."
"Language!"
His Mother spat.
He rushed out past his mother into the hallway took a left jumped off the wall behind him pushing himself into the bathroom and doing a somersault to finish. Alex surprised himself, why would he do all that just to get ready for the bathroom when it was just a few feet away from his room. It didn't make any sense. He was never that athletic in the first place and yet he felt his senses had improved for some reason.
As if he could focus better and longer. It was a peculiar feeling. One that seemed to almost subvert the limits of his own body. However the young boy could only ponder these questions for a moment before his mother bumped into him.
"Aye!"
She blurted.
She dropped the whole basket and Alex motioned to help but she looked at him almost furiously.
"Go! You have school mijo go!"
She yelled out, ready to slap him across the head.
Alex took the hint and got ready and ran out the front door of the small duplex they called a home.
On the walk to school Alex was contemplating even more on what happened this morning. He was staring at his hands flexing the muscles and joints to see if he could notice any difference. He didn't or maybe he couldn't. This soon to be young adult was confused. Not only was that vivid dream he had been pestering his mind like a poison, but his abnormal and almost erratic behavior put the young boy on edge. It was early and the sun was barely out.
"Oh Crap."
He said realizing he was going to be late and started running to school hoping he'd make it before roll call.