CHAPTER VI
THE MANA ACROPOLIS

SOUNDTRACK- No Music
        The Thunder Serpent finally approached the area. Fox saw no island, but Abant guaranteed there would be one. Only Abant stood on the top of the hovercraft, while the others waited in the cockpit like they were told. He took a blue crystal from his pocket. It had a hole, where Abant could slide it onto the tip of his Onyx-Blade. He looked out to the sea, “Behold.......the mystic realm.”
        Abant ignited his Onyx-Blade, then pointed it out directly in front of the Serpent, over the ocean. The crystal burst into a blue beam that cut a hole in the fabric of reality before the hovercraft. Everyone gazed into the huge deep blue vortex. After the old hybrid came back into the cockpit of the hovercraft, he told Fox to drive straight into it. After Fox argued for a bit that he wasn’t going to even think about driving his precious baby into a cosmic funnel, Abant finally persuaded him that it would be alright.
        The teleportation was almost instantaneous. The Thunder Serpent shot out of another blue funnel. The hovercraft landed into a small lake in a massive garden. This garden belonged to a castle carved into the rock of a great floating island, thousands of feet above sea level! The castle was white and its walls were smooth, but very archaic. Huge statues of great mages, wielding swords like Janus’s, surrounded the entrance. Smaller ones were placed in the garden, surrounded by lush vegetation.
        Fox drove the Serpent to nearby docks that burrowed into a nook of rock and trees. Everyone hopped out of the hovercraft onto the wooden planks of the docks. He tied up his beloved ship.
        The curious hybrid noticed the lake was the top of a nearby waterfall, where its water was being poured out over the edge of the island. The curious hybrid hopped into the lake and waded up by the drop. Sage watched the water spill into infinity. His hazel eyes widened, witnessing the amazing view of the endless clouds that surrounded the island (even under it)! “Where’s the sea?” Fox asked himself.
        The others were walking up a dirt path to the front of the castle; Audrey picked some beautifully colored flowers along the way. Abant replied, “We have been elevated from the material world to the mystical world- this island is the last place of magic.”
        Fox walked out of the lake and joined the rest of the group as they stood in front of the entrance, a giant stone arc leading to the castle’s interior. Inside was a huge and elegant mansion that had been carved into the white rock. “This way,” Abant said, waving them to follow.
SOUNDTRACK- The Mana Acropolis
        Occasionally, there would be vast stain glass windows allowing immense beams of light to burst into the countless stone corridors.  Abant lead the other three up an enormously wide spiral staircase- its white stone material covered with red carpet. He explained that the windows along the walls of this staircase were tinting the light from outside yellow because the stain-glass was made with grains of yellow-mana. The windows and the light beams themselves seemed to have a strange flow of magical illuminating light- quite enchanting.
        The party reached the pinnacle of the profusely long staircase. Abant grabbed a hold of a metal ring, hinged to a massive ten-foot tall wooden door. The ring seemed to be made of the same material as an Onyx-Blade. Abant struck the door with the dark ring. No reply was given. Striking the door must have only alerted whomever inside of their presence.
        Swinging open the monstrous door, Abant showed the party into the main chamber. He whispered, “If you don’t mind, Audrey and Fox, you need to stay by the door just this once. I need to take Janus to him.” The two nodded, not sure what was going on. The gothic architecture of the castle, especially the Grand Chamber, frightened Audrey and made Fox anxious. Janus was more unsettled than any of them. He was sweating from his great nervousness.
        Who is this man I’m about to meet? Who is Abant? How could I trust a...thing I don’t know! Now look at what I’ve gotten myself into- I’m in some strange floating castle in another realm, and am about to be introduced to the lord of this place!  I should have just stayed home. Wait...maybe this is where my father is... Janus’s mind was racing as Abant motioned him to follow.
        Grand works of masonry filled room. Both sides of the rectangular chamber were lined with myriad arches. Each arch formed a curved upper edge of the open space, supporting the weight above it, also acting as a doorway to the night sky. A night sky being extremely odd, for only a few minutes ago it was completely day at the base of the castle! The cool night-wind that came brushing in, chilled Janus amongst the eeriness of the gothic stonework.
        For as dark as the chamber seemed to be, it actually possessed a very strange sereneness. Once the party’s eyes became adjusted, the moonshine, from the open arches, illuminated the chamber. There was a very surrealistic feel to this room. Janus could spot constellations that he remembered from his stargazing days as a boy. He suddenly felt homesick while walking down the red carpet of this peculiar place. Apparently the material world and this strange mystical world share the same reality...and even stars, Janus thought. But they seem to coexist in separate universes at the same time.
        Like a grand cathedral, the extremely rectangular chamber lead to a colossal alter at the other end. Statues of gargoyles stared down at Janus, and he wasn’t sure if their heads seemed to follow him down the corridor or if it was just all in his mind...
        At the base of the alter, a man in a black robe was knelt with his head bowed. Janus could only see the white hair of the man, for the rest was concealed in shadow. In the man’s left hand he held a golden staff with a hand-sized blue crystal ball at the top. The entire staff seemed to glow against the darkness, but the crystal absorbed light. Abant and Janus stood a few feet away from the man, as he remained still in his bowed position.
        “At last,” The man’s deep voice said. He stood up and turned around. There seemed to be a darkness around his eyes, but the pupils were crystal-white. This exotic feature of the man made Janus feel terrified. The man adjusted his yellow tie against his black shirt, pants, and belt, while catching a good look at the young man before him.
        He turned back around. “Is he the one?” He appeared to have spoken a stone letter ‘V’ that came up from the top of the alter.
        A voice, unlike any voice Janus had ever heard, emitted from the V. Each word faded in in reverse echo. “The Chosen One, he is.” A normal echo left each word just as freakishly. Janus almost thought the voice was female.
        The tall man turned to face Janus once again. “Kneel before me, Janus.” Without even questioning how the man knew his name, Janus did as he was told. The man took his staff. The blue-sphere glowed a color unlike anything Janus had ever witnessed. It wasn’t black, it wasn’t a dark shade of any color. It was phenomenal, as if the dark glow around the crystal opened a gateway to a star ocean in the abyss of space. It surrounded the crystal like a fog of surrealistic shadow.
        Janus realized what the man was doing. “You are now a mage-squire,” The man said. “Soon you will become a mage-knight by right of Vako,” The man said it so proudly.
        Janus stood back up as the mysterious lord of the castle extended his hand. “I am Canen, a mage like your late grandfather. This palace is the Mana Acropolis. Before the end of the Mage-War, the Mana Acropolis was a great island castle in the material world. It was the citadel for all Antilian mage activity. At the end, our enemies cast the island into an arcane dimension, where it floats in a magical sky of the mystic realm.
        “The Mana Acropolis is the sanctuary for those of us who have maintained the old knowledge of magic. We also wish to rid the world of evil by using magic. This organization is named Revenant. I have several disciples, and Revenant holds a strong friendship with Zetah, the desert people. Abant is a mage, whom is extremely skilled and complete in his training.” Canen placed his hand on Janus’s shoulder. “You will be a mage too- very quickly, I foresee.”
        A smile came upon Canen’s face. “Abant has been following you for nearly a year now, making sure you are the Chosen One. Vako contacted me fifty years ago, commanding that I find and train you. I have a spent all of those fifty years searching for the chosen one- you.”
        This guy looks like late twenties!! How could he have a fraction of his life be fifty years?!? Janus wondered.
        “Just one of the benefits of being a mage and having ancestry of knights of magic before you,” Canen answered, reading Janus’s mind. “Your grandfather was a mage. I knew him well. Poor Winston... He died in vain at the hands of a great foe. One we have been working against since the start of the Mage-War. The enemy is not dead, Janus. Not yet...” Abant walked back to Audrey and Fox, leading them to their rooms.
        Janus watched them leave. “Come, Janus,” Canen said. “Let us go down to the gardens to talk.”

SOUNDTRACK- The Mana Acropolis
        Moments later, Janus and Canen walked down the huge flight of stone steps, and out to the gardens. Janus found himself surrounded in beautiful plants and blooming flowers in the eternal spring that thrives on the floating island.
        “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Canen said, staring at the ravishing qualities of the Mana Acroplosis’s garden. He lead Janus through a maze of beauty on a stone path. Canen’s hands were folded behind his back, as he proceeded deeper into the forest of gorgeous wonders. Janus followed Canen, listening to the wise words of his new mentor. Canen always welcomed the questions Janus had on his mind.
        Janus shook his head. “I’ve been needing this questioned answered,” he paused. “Who is this Vako?”
        Canen smiled. “Vako is our ultimate leader. While she is not a goddess, nor the God, she is the one who maintains life and fate. A powerful super-organism that crashed like a meteorite into this planet nearly a million years ago. She burrowed herself deep into the core, for Vako can only survive with intense heat and gravitational pressure. It is rumored that only the seed of such a creature can survive the horrible environment of space.”
        They continued to stroll deeper into the garden. Canen was merely gathering his thoughts, “You asked me who Vako is. Her blood circulates throughout the planet, keeping everything alive. For as awesome and mighty of a trait as this is, Vako still remained unknown years before the Mage-War. When the gift of magic to humanity was brought by her, she simply wanted the world to know she existed. But even today, she struggles against a great foe.”
        “Who?” Janus asked, attracted to the information Canen gave.
        “Intarma.”
        Janus’s eyes widened. They followed a curved path, taking them to more rich plants to surround them. They passed an enchanting waterfall that spread a mist from it. A faint rainbow could be seen interlaced within the white mist. Canen continued, “It will be hard to comprehend this...but what I’m about to tell you will turn your world upside down.”
        “…”
        “Intarma existed long before the Mage-War; they were running the world. The only thing was, they had no government. It wasn’t anarchy, it was business. Intarma held a monopoly on everything that there ever was, controlling the world’s economy. All kingdoms were at Intarma’s feet. When Vako introduced magic, the greedy corporation naturally wanted to hold exclusive control by the means of producing and selling that commodity- yellow mana. They knew they would have to drain everyone from their magic ability first. In order for a business to succeed, you have to have not something people want, but need.
        “They tried many things...but magic still remained within the souls of everyone. So, they picked the largest fight in the history of this planet. They practically bought Mensa, and turned that empire’s mages into a legion of darkness. Mensan mages wreaked havoc on the planet, drowning the world in a sea of chaos.
        “Antilian, Zetan, and Tucannan mages fought together against Mensa, but with Intarma backing Mensa up, no one stood a chance. The legendary Mage of Darkness, Commander of the Mensan Mage Order, was the one who cast the Newborn Curse. The one that caused so many to suffer. He was the one who killed Mage Winston, your grandfather- The Mage of Darkness by the name of Sa’gaht.”

SOUNDTRACK- Insanity’s Grimace
        Inside the huge complex building of Intarma, a scientist scratched his bald head as he sat in his wheelchair, doing nothing but swat at numerous flies. The place was a mess; papers were scattered here and there, old food was rotting on his desk, cobwebs fluttered in the wind in front of a small vent. He sat there staring off into space. The overhead bulb shed a white cone of light over his oily head. Drool seeped from his mouth, soaking his clothes. The man’s hygiene was terrible.
        Like a virus, the moles all over his head and small, crippled body had been rotting his health. There was a knock on his door. His weak and horse voice answered, “Come in?”
        The door swung open, and in walked Jonnan. He felt exhausted, forced to travel between Antilia, Truce Seaport, and now Intarma Island in less than two days.
        “Dr. Doan, I have the report you requested.” Jonnan handed it to the frail man. Doan simply tossed it aside on his desk.
        “Have you ever just stopped and thought about it?” Doan said as he stared into space.
        “Thought about what, sir?”
        The doctor spoke with such enthusiasm, while remaining in raspy tone. “Intarma, Jonnan, Intarma.” Jonnan didn’t understand. Dr. Doan continued, “We have healed the land from the Mage-War, the mana-radiation is almost gone.”
        “Wha...” Jonnan’s jaw dropped. “So why did I just sell five more years worth of mana shipments?”
        Dr. Doan laughed, his crooked teeth, most missing, boasting a vomit-like yellow. “You only sold five years of yellow-died, ground-up chalk.”
        “I don’t understand, sir,” Jonnan said, his brows narrow behind his blue sunglasses.
        Doan chuckled again, “The planet is healed. There’s no more need for the reactors!” The doctor shook his repulsive head. “However, our customers don’t need to know that.”
        Jonnan laughed softly, surprised by Dr. Doan’s plan. “Ingenious.”
        “Don’t thank me, thank Castor,” Doan chuckled as he picked up the report Jonnan had fetched him. “Is this the recent data analysis on the boy?” Jonnan nodded as the old man flipped through it. “This is superb!”
        “All but for the part where he is draining our yellow-mana reserves. We’ll have to drill for more, sir.” Jonnan said. There was a pause. “That’s...not good.”
        Doan sat the report aside again and waved his bony finger at his partner. “I don’t care what it takes, keep the boy plugged-in.”
        “Sir, Vako could die. That means the planet could die.” Jonnan added.
        “I don’t care!” Dr. Doan shouted, his absence of teeth making him seem like he was mumbling. “I need to know why he’s like this. I need to understand if it is just him or the technology you and I perfected. Jonnan...” Dr. Doan leaned forward. “If it is our technology that is changing reality... who need’s Vako?”
        “What about his double, his DreamClone?” Jonnan said. “What do we do about him?”
        Dr. Doan frowned. “Find him and get him to pull out, but do not force him to. I need to know what will happen if one is unplugged. If a mind in the DreamSeed machine has locked itself in its matrix, we would destroy that mind if we abruptly extracted it. However, if we convince the mind to pull out on its own, everything should be alright.”
        “You want my son to commit suicide?”
        Dr. Doan laughed. “Its not your son, its his mental projection of his dream-self. With the aid of our machine, it renders that projection a reality,” Dr. Doan said. He leaned back and a huge grin spread across his hideous face. “The merging has begun. The boy has changed the world. The history, the future, everything! Tell Castor that I am ready to be plugged in as soon as we force the boy to pull out of the DreamSeed matrix.”
        “…” Jonnan blinked, his jaw dropped.
        “I want to see what it is like to dream for real...”