The Lores of Lyra - Rising Star

On the other side of the lake, Joshua stopped up. He could see Yildun in the distance, and the knowledge that they weren’t far off now, made him well pleased.

“What’s up?” she asked. He looked over at her; she was so different from what he had expected. Granted, he didn’t know what to expect, or if he even had expected anything, yet he knew that if he had—this wasn’t it.

Her dark brown eyes met his, and he felt a rush to his stomach. Annabell’s eyes… It was a surrealistic thing; he could see so much of his former partner, his best friend, in her. But as he stared at all of her, he could see nothing but a stranger. Even the way she blushed was different from what he had grown to love.

He shook his head in denial—this wasn’t Annabell. This woman, beautiful as she looked, wasn’t his Annabell. He continued to walk after her, looking at her energized form.

The white dress—something that still didn’t make sense to him hugged her curves. Her slender body walked with a grace that Annabell had lacked. Not once had he been forced to catch her, even though, the dress should have ensnared her movements.

“So, any plans on what to tell the elders?” Joshua asked. It was something he had wanted to ask for a long time. Vega looked at him.

“I thought you took care of the technicalities,” she said.

“What?” Joshua screeched, watching her with apprehension filled eyes, she laughed at that. Her laughter cause a tingling to erupt from his stomach.

“No, Silly, I’m joking… Relax,” she said and looked ahead.

“So, you have an idea?” he repeated.

“I’m thinking of making them fess up about the war, tell them that I know of it, and then tell them about the black holes. They should be able to help,” she explained.

“I thought you didn’t want to talk to them?” Joshua asked, his own stomach turning, this time in fear, when he remembered the letter from his father, the piece of paper that told him about the birth of Miriam and Annabel.

“I didn’t. Well, not at first… But I thought it over, they are naturally gifted in some way, and they have promised to serve and protect Astron,” she said and shrugged.

Joshua didn’t answer to that. They needed to speak with the elders. He knew that much. He just wished that he could keep Vega away from them. The faith she had in their promise was something he lacked. The memory of Blake’s taunting voice, telling him that Astron was facing annihilation, haunted him. He had no desire to put Vega anywhere near Errai—or any of the others.

They were walking through the outskirts of the city of Yildun. He shook his head and contemplated what to do—it wouldn’t do them any good if he were consumed in thoughts about things he didn’t have the ability to change.

Vega pointed excited at the massive temple that towered over every other building in the city.

“Veronica helped design that one!” she exclaimed. Joshua didn’t know how to respond, he just nodded.

Every citizen in all of Astron knew of that temple, it was the throne of the Elders. It was built on grounds devoted to the Stars but only for the Elders to step inside, which caused a problem for them.

For a person to be granted access, they had to seek an audience—a process that usually took months to go through. Here, they were trying to cut the line. He wasn’t sure how they would manage, but he knew that they would succeed.

Vega tried coming up with ideas. Everything from drugging the guards, to ask for permission to go through was suggested.

They agreed to undertake the legal process first, they could turn out to be lucky. And if they failed, they would break in and hope for forgiveness afterwards. One thing was certain, and that was that their case needed to be addressed—no matter what.

They stepped through the city gates, and Joshua had to hide a smile when he saw Vega’s awestruck expression. She was fascinated by the colorful flags that swayed cheerfully in the wind.

“This is so beautiful!” she burst out. She whipped her head from side to side, trying to look at everything at once. When her eyes caught the highest tower of the temple, she halted and pointed.

Joshua looked up to see the highest spear reflecting the colorful light from the descending sun, causing the golden top to look like an ascending Star watching of them. It was stunning.

Joshua nodded gently. They were so close.

Vega’s face was shadowed with seriousness as they walked the short distance. Thankfully, the Temple of the Stars was easy to find. Their journey was shortened by the fact that the star formed spear led the way.

Guards were lined up outside the temple. To Joshua, it didn’t seem like a temple of peace and love. It was a fortress, designed to keep intruders out. They shared a look and walked with upheld heads up to the first guard.

“Name and case,” the guard said in a monotone voice. He didn’t look at them but stared out into the air. Something about his voice triggered a memory in Joshua, though he couldn’t remember where from.

“Joshua Mallock and Vega, we are here to talk with the elders. We have pressing matters to discuss,” Joshua told in an authoritative voice. It sounded strange even for him.

“And the pressing matters would be?” the guard asked in the same bored tone.

“Only for the elders to know,” Joshua sneered. The attitude of the guard made his blood boil in anger.

The guard finally looked at them, and a smirk formed on his scarred face.

“The elders don’t solve children’s matters,” he taunted before looking away again, signaling the end of the conversation.

Joshua gasped as he recognized the guard, it was one of the men, who had captured and tortured Annabell. Anger flashed through him, and he looked to the sides. The rest of them were lined up, preventing them to access the temple.

He nodded once and dragged Vega off with him. Pulling her into a small alley, he whispered, “Don’t you recognize them?”

“Recognize who?” she asked confused.

“The guards, they are the same that captured and tortured you, well… Annabell,” he explained.

When the coin dropped for Vega, he could see her eyes change color. They were darker and more sinister than just a few seconds ago. Before his eyes, she relieved the horrific abuse once more.

“I want to kill them,” she sneered.

“I don’t blame you, yet we can’t.” He looked around, “We should find a new place to talk about this.”

She agreed, and they started to walk past the grey buildings. They didn’t go far before someone grabbed Joshua’s shoulder and yanked him in a little shadowed entryway.

“Kid, did I hear right?” A gruff voice asked Joshua, they couldn’t make out the appearance of the hooded figure. “Are you Joshua Mallock, son of Jason?”

Joshua swallowed, and yanked himself free of the grip that the hooded man had on his shoulders.

“Depends on who’s asking,” he said.

“Ha, I know that attitude; you are definitely Jason’s son,” the man said, and after a short pause wrapped his arms around Joshua.

“It’s so good to see you, Kiddo,” he said and nudged Joshua lightly on the shoulder.

Joshua stood awkwardly under the man’s arm, not sure what to say. Confused he sent a look to Vega, pleading for help. She just shrugged.

“I’m sorry, Sir, but I am afraid I don’t know whom you are,” he said, trying to sound polite.

“I’m Marcus Chevalier, I was your father’s partner for many years,” he presented himself and stretched out a hand to greet them.

“Hello, Sir,” Joshua shook his hand.

“So, you guys were trying to come in and see the Elders, don’t mind Calum, he can be kind of a douche,” he said.

“We know!” Joshua and Vega said in unison, which made them laugh softly, even though nothing was funny about their situation. For Joshua, it was just enjoyable to laugh about something in general.

“Oh, I didn’t know you knew him already,” Marcus mumbled and ruffled his dark curls. As he moved, the cape revealed a soldier uniform underneath.

“We have to talk to the elders, Marcus. I can’t tell you the details, but it’s for the safety of Astron’s future,” Joshua explained.

“I might be able to help you with that, I can sneak you in, though if you guys are caught… then you don’t know me,” he said and looked them straight in the eyes. They nodded their agreement and followed the guard as he led them down another alley.

“At the end of here, there is a small hole that leads to the yard inside the temple. You go through there, and then find the way inside. Be careful, the place are swarming with guards, though since it’s evening now, and close to a shift, there should be a chance you can get from the garden and into the elder hall across, without being seen,” Marcus explained as he led them to the entrance of the tunnel, that was hidden behind some containers.

“Thank you very much for this, Marcus,” Joshua said and once again shook the hands of his father’s ex-partner.

“My pleasure, and… Your father was loved, kiddo. Don’t ever forget that,” he said, and with a final bow he turned and left them.

They made their ways into the tunnel, it was dark, and Vega concentrated to get her hands to glow lightly. That part still freaked Joshua out, but it sure was convenient right now.

When the felt a gust of wind hit their faces, they hurried towards the exit. Covered by bushes, they looked out to see if the coast was clear.

“Should we make a run for it?” Vega asked.

Joshua looked around and noticed the number of double doors leading into the Elder hall. He was surprised that there weren’t any guards in sight, but shook it off.

Nodding his agreement, he counted to three with his fingers. They took off, running as fast as they could handle, leaping up the small stairway and inside the temple.

They stopped as they heard a booming voice, “She should have been dead years ago!”

“I don’t know what happened, I ordered them both killed,” another voice answered, this one sounded weaker than the first. Joshua and Vega stood in doorway, sure that they already had been noticed.

“Well they were not, you’ll regret this, Garnet!” the other voice shouted.

They skidded closer and now saw that the owner of the voice of a black haired man. He stood crouched in a threatening stance over a smaller and older man.

“Errai, don’t do this… What… a-are you doing?” the man in the corner stuttered, as the man in front of him took a form that both Vega and Joshua had come to know more than they had ever wished for—a black mist.

“Stop!” Vega yelled and ran forwards. Her hands outstretched.

Joshua followed her, the sight of another black hole, made the blood feel like poison in his veins. He remembered the darkness that had slashed at his body, and he was sure that for just a second, he could hear Blake’s sinister laughter once more.

He stood beside Vega. Her hands started to glow, and Joshua watched as the cloud transformed back into a man.

“Don’t!” he warned, but Vega was already too consumed in her concentration.

With a snarl, the Black Hole turned towards the man in the corner, and as he stretched out his hands; his voice reverberated throughout the air once more before he disappeared in silvery smoke:

“The Rising Star will die; the black holes will make sure of it!”

The threat hung in the air after he had disappeared, and the room felt tainted. Vega ran towards Garnet.

“Are you okay?” she asked and fell on her knees beside him.

“I am… Merely a little shaken of the recent events,” he said and took the hand that was offered.

“Did you know that Errai was a black hole?” Joshua’s voice interrupted as he slowly walked towards them.

“A what?”

“A black hole taken human form, you know, from the war that has been banished from almost all of Astron,” Joshua continued, his voice steel hard.

“No, I did not,” Garnet said, and sighed as he was placed onto the one of the five thrones at the end of the wall.

“We came here to warn you about, Black holes on earth, we have discovered, and battled, three just in these past weeks,” Joshua said, and stood in front of the Elder. “But I can see the elders were infiltrated as well.”

“Oh, dear children. I fear that I might have unleashed something unstoppable into our world,” Garnet whispered. The older man was lost, and Joshua had to look away as a single tear settled in the crook of the man’s nose.

“What do you mean?” Vega asked.

“Many years ago, I gave two children to a guard, in the hopes of having him spare their life. He did, and now they rising star is on the loose,” he said and ran a hand over his face to try to rid himself from the tiredness and stress that covered every wrinkle he had, “I don’t even know why I am telling this to you two, you are nothing but children mixed into affairs that exist out of your reach.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Joshua started, “What you did, might have been the only way to save, not only Astron, but the whole world as well.”

Garnet looked at him with suspicion, and yet, still in his eyes were a little gleam of hope.

“I present to you, the Rising Star,” Joshua said and pushed Vega forward.

The man didn’t answer at first. Instead, he stared with an open mouth at them.

“The R-rising Star?” he asked.

Joshua took a seat beside the man. The marble floor chilled his end.

“Yes, from the prophecy. She is destined to save Astron,” he explained.

“What do you know of the prophecy?”

Joshua took out his father’s journal from his bag and placed it gently on his lap.

“My father was with you when the twins were born,” he started. The book lay securely in front of him, and he ran a hand over the worn-out leather, “He sacrificed his life to honor your last request—even if he didn’t know if it was what you meant.

“He separated the girls, and did all within his reach to ensure that they were safe. While they grew up, he trained me as much as he could do. I was to complete his task if he found that he was unable to.”

Joshua felt Vega sit down beside him, and she placed her hands over his. It gave him the strength to continue.

“I found one of the girls in a basement, tortured by your guards. I was to re-unite the sisters, so they could lead me to the Rising Star.” Joshua cleared his throat. A lump had formed, “I-I was to bring the Rising Star to you.”

Elder Garnet was quiet. Joshua looked up to see that the elder man had tears in his eyes.

“You’ve done great, son,” he said.