12: End Of The Projection

"See, Elara, I love you, and I always will… Tell Alvan.. that I love him."

When Alvan heard his father struggle to say these words, he was overcome with emotions. A heavy weight settled upon his chest as if a crushing force sought to squeeze the air from his lungs. Tears welled up, spilling from his eyes and tracing a path down his cheeks. He squeezed Emelda's hand, which was entwined with his.

Why was he feeling this way, even though he never knew who his father was before? Perhaps because he came to realize that everything his father did was for the good of everyone...

Emelda wasn't any better than Alvan after witnessing the whole thing with him. Using her other hand, she wiped the tears from his face as she said, "It's okay."

Looking directly into his teary eyes, she could empathize with whatever Alvan was going through right now. After all, she was an orphan herself. Alvan opened his mouth to say something, but she immediately leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips. Two of them remained in this position until Zamon, from the scene, passed away.

As their lips parted, Emelda gazed directly at the orb projection, making a conscious effort to hide her flushed cheeks. However, a scream from the holographic projection drew them out of their reverie. It was Elara who screamed when she discovered that her husband was gone, she rushed to his side and clung to his lifeless body. A small, condensed, spherical green energy flew out of her mouth and into Zamon's, but nothing seemed to be happening.

As she desperately tried her best to save the already deceased Zamon. Something flew out of Zamon's body, exactly from the location where a core would be located. It looked like a shard of condensed golden energy. Just as Elara witnessed the energy emanating from Zamon's body, it hovered momentarily before gradually moving toward the baby lying nearby. The shard of golden energy neared the baby and attached itself to his forehead, after which it disappeared.

And before their very eyes, the baby's hair changed from brown to silver, amazing both Elara, who was in the scene, and Emelda, who was watching the scene…

"So you knew about your hair color change? Much like your father, whose hair changed from black to dark red," Emelda asked, her gaze fixated on the projection that seemed to be flashing past scenes at the speed of light.

"My mother told me when I asked her why only my hair was whitish. She told me that I had brown hair when I was born, but it later turned silver," replied Alvan.

The scenes flashed and slid through the holographic projection until everything came to a halt and was engulfed in blue light. The once holographic projection transformed into a projection orb of blue light before slowly receding into the main Time Orb that projected it. The orb in the statue's right hand gradually dimmed. That was clearly the end of the revelation about the past.

Seeing that the projection had ended, Alvan shifted his gaze back to his bracelet, watching it intently as if he were contemplating something. 'Mom gave me this bracelet and told me that it would reveal everything about my father and myself to me. And now it seemed that what she meant was that the bracelet would lead me to the Time Orb and assist me in activating it... I have finally discovered something about my father, but... I wonder how all of these things are connected to me. Wait! Could it be...?'

A memory flashed through his mind at this moment. He remembered when he had first used cosmic energy in front of his mother. Also, he remembered asking his mother why he could not willingly use his ethereal energy or cosmic energy.

She told him that it was all because he could wield two different energies, but the energies were fighting for dominance over each other, which was why he could not just decide when to use them. If either of them dominates, he will immediately feel the energy and utilize it accordingly. However, the two energies interchange their dominance depending on the situation.

Remembering these things, he pondered, 'Was it the golden shard of energy that entered my body from my father's core that enabled me to harness cosmic energy?' After pondering for a while, he concluded that it might be the case. Since that was the best theory that could explain why he could wield cosmic energy from a very young age, no one had ever done so in the entirety of Etheloria.

A realization dawned on him, and he quickly turned towards the Book of Immortality and the scroll on his father's left hand. Emelda's instinct kicked in as she followed his gaze to see what he was looking at. She covered his eyes with one of her palms and said, "Don't even think about it, I beg you."

"I know... I don't covet power. I just want to clarify one thing. Why would my mom go through the trouble of preparing all of this, and what is her aim in showing it to me?

"You should also remember that the golden energy of the Book of Immortality entered my body from my father's, so I don't think there will be a repeat of what happened when my father opened it," replied Alvan. Emelda hesitantly removed her hand from his eyes, and they moved closer to the tome.

However, when he flipped it open, he was surprised to discover that the contents of the tome were written in a language unfamiliar to him. It was as if there were symbols scribbled all over the pages; he couldn't understand a thing. So he set aside the tome and picked up the scroll that was on top of it. After unrolling it, he also discovered that it was a map. A map of Etheloria, the mountain ranges, and then a mysterious location marked with an "X" across it. The area of this enigmatic location was colored red, unlike the rest that were black on the scroll.

"Where is that?" asked Emelda, her curiosity piqued by the sight of an area painted entirely red with a black "X" mark across it.

"I don't know either... maybe the High Priest will know," he said. But then, his mind drifted to the basement this time. They had spent so much time in this chamber and didn't even know what was going on in the basement or outside on the elevated plateau. "I think we should head back now."

At the mention of leaving the chamber, Emelda's fear seemed to have returned. She pointed towards the stone gate and asked, "How do we open it? There is no hole to insert another crystal."

"There must be a way to leave. We can't be trapped in here." After saying this, they both walked towards the stone gate in search of an exit from the chamber. On Alvan's grasp, was the scroll they found atop the tome in the statue's left hand.

***

The Basement.

The High Priest and the other five guardians walked into the basement from outside and headed towards the platform where the elite individuals, other Parliament Elders, and most Templar warriors were.

After descending into the basement, the first thing that came into view was a group of Templar guards positioned near the entrance of the dungeon-like space. Walking deeper, one will see a sea of people stretching further towards the left side of the basement. On the right side, there was a slightly elevated platform that spanned several meters.

On this platform, there were renowned figures and elites in their extravagant attire, exuding opulence and affluence. Next, were the templar warriors, adorned in gleaming silver armor. Lastly, the Parliament Elders, each wearing a black robe with red stripes running along its sides and hems.

However, before the platform, there were three knights stationed at a corner with no illumination whatsoever. That was where the passageway that led to the chamber was located.

When the six guardians reached the platform, they proceeded to sit on eight earth-molded seats, arranged in a line facing the entrance of the basement. After occupying their seats, two were left unseated. It was definitely Zamon's and Elara's. Even though Kamuth and Doger were among the Parliament Elders, they also sat among the guardians.

"Elders, we have successfully activated the Dome Array above the plateau. But... It seemed to have weakened after so many years of disuse. Nobody knows how long it can hold out.

"So, we need to collaborate and come up with a strategy to permanently eradicate the shadow plague this time. We can't let Zamon's sacrifice twenty-six years ago be in vain. The reappearance of the shadow plague means just one thing. The immortal sorcerer somehow survived the clash between him and Zamon... and he is definitely back and has resumed his dark experiments. So, this time around, we are going to take him down if we want to be completely free from his malevolent and foreboding experiments," said the High Priest with a deep scowl on his face.

"That is where the problem lies... we failed to defeat him last time, even with an immortal fighting against him. How do we annihilate him now that we have no immortal?" One of the Elders said. He seemed to be the oldest among the other Elders, although he was not older than the High Priest.

"Then, we produce one… a powerful immortal to rival him this time... We cannot allow ourselves to be used as specimens and subjected to the experiments of that sorcerer. Can we?"