Chapter 1 - Activating the enigmatic crystal!

Jack Greyson, a 17-year-old male with an impressive muscular physique standing at 6.2 feet. He possesses intense blue irises, raven-black hair, and a radiant fair complexion. He is an intelligent science enthusiast who lost both parents at the tender age of two. Since then, he has been living with his grandfather.

His grandfather loved and treated him with utmost care, spoiling him in every possible way. However, he also heavily reprimanded him when he did something wrong, all with the aim of shaping him into a great man for the benefit of society. The extent of his grandfather's love was such that he was totally willing to die for Jack without the slightest hint of hesitation.

As for Jack, he looked after his aged and ailing grandfather with love, respect, and care. However, one thing had always boggled his mind: in the possession of his grandfather was an odd, hexagonal-shaped crystal that his grandfather kept as a collection but never told him about.

But his grandfather, Houston Greyson—an enlightened man and amazing storyteller, who with his powerful inventive imagination, crafted and shared creative stories of powerful entities from fascinating other-worlds scattered across the vast and endless expanse of space, never tried to hide anything from him. He knew all of his grandfather's secrets, as the ailing old man, fully aware that he would soon surrender to the cold embrace of death, made no attempt to hide anything from him.

He simply told him everything he knew; of every past event that he had experienced in his lifetime, and of everything that he had learnt. He was Jack's zealous narrator and tutor. So, this heavily surprised Jack who never did make the move to ask his grandfather why he didn't tell him about the crystal. He simply wanted to find out things for himself.

But how did Jack come to know of this crystal?

On a particular Tuesday in the year 2061, six-year-old Jack found himself alone, the absence of his grandfather leaving a palpable void in their shared space. As the clock ticked away, marking the moment his grandfather embarked on a medical checkup, Jack seized the opportunity to delve into the confines of his room to retrieve an item—a small, rock-like, pyramid-shaped object that his grandfather had collected from his playful little self. He had found it on a table in his room and decided to play around with it.

Time hung in suspension as six-year-old Jack, in his haste to retrieve the object that had invoked his curiosity and leave his grandfather's room before he would arrive, inadvertently dislodged a small black box from its carefully placed perch in his grandfather's wardrobe—which Jack was initially, heavily surprised to find unlocked and slightly opened.

The box dislodged by him from its securely placed spot, surrendered to gravity and met the tiled floor with a thud that resonated through the room. And when it swung open, a cascade of refracted light spilled forth, revealing a luminous prismatic crystal within.

The room seemed to exhale a breath of magic as the crystal caught the sunlight, scattering hues across the walls. The play of colors created an enchanting display that held little Jack rapturously captive.

***

Now, at the age of 17 and standing in his grandfather's room, Jack, with a full understanding of where the box was safely kept in the wardrobe, navigated toward it.

Similar to the past, he found the large wardrobe unlocked and slightly opened—an action that stirred an incomprehensible feeling in his heart, as if it were a secret move orchestrated by his seemingly scheming grandfather. It was just as though his grandfather was beckoning him to explore the wardrobe and perhaps discover something unordinary hidden within.

After reaching for the black box, he opened it, retrieved the glowing, egg-sized crystal that seemed to have grown smaller in size and began to rub it in his hands. He could indulge in this ritual since his grandfather wasn't around—as he had gone for his medical checkup.

Jack continuously rubbed his fingers over it with extreme scrutiny, as if he were trying to find a well-concealed button that could possibly activate the crystal—a funny and playful imagination of his. But this was because the crystal looked like an otherworldly item, or more precisely, an advanced alien-civilization object. However, he couldn't quite understand how it had ended up in his grandfather's hands, which his grandfather hadn't even attempted to tell him about it despite his supposed inability to keep secrets from him.

"I must unravel the secret you possess, crystal," Jack said with a gleam of unbreakable determination in his eyes.

"But I hope activating this won't summon massive, overwhelming armies of super-powered or ultra-strong aliens from some distant diabolical planet," Jack whispered within himself, a deeply worried expression etched on his face. Both fear and horror that quickly climbed in intensity—to the roof of his heart, gripped him like iron because of the thought of inadvertently triggering the crystal and attracting devious, ruthless beings with tyrannical powers from faraway planetary systems.

Despite his apprehension, Jack remained resolute in his fascination with the crystal. He held a sincere but huge, fantastical hope that it might serve as a portal or spatial tunnel to higher realms, advanced grandiose worlds, uncharted dimensions, or parallel universes, offering means to explore different worlds and gain lots of extremely valuable and completely rare knowledge.

Actually, the crystal's irresistible allure had continuously infiltrated his dreams, weaving nightly narratives where he persistently grappled with its unknown but dormant potential, which therefore fueled a relentless, ever-burning curiosity that surged wildly within him.

For years—since Jack first saw the crystal as a six-year-old—his subconscious became a battleground of thoughts, entirely centered on the crystal that increasingly imprinted its image into his mind. Constant intrusive thoughts about the crystal would emerge unexpectedly, as if the crystal possessed the ability to continuously project itself into his mind and thought-stream. This phenomenon persisted, leaving Jack unable to shake off the strong magnetic pull and mysterious allure of the strange, enigmatic crystal.

After patiently working his hands around the surface of the stone for a good 55 minutes—though he could have continued for weeks or months until something happened—Jack didn't know what he did when he heard a clicking sound suddenly emanate from within the crystal. The click resembled the noise of a gear turning once. Also, as soon as the clicking sound rang out, a boom resonated in the depth of his soul, shaking his entire being and instantly filling him with fantastical visions that stirred great awe and tremendous shock within him.

[A/N]

[Thank you for delving into the initial chapter of this novel. If you found it engaging and wish to explore further, consider adding it to your library. Your support is immensely valuable and appreciated, especially as I aim to secure victory in an ongoing contest. Cheers!]

Next chapter