Aegis: Pandora's Box

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“What did he mean by those words?” what the old man said to everyone yesterday caught me off guard. “Does he know about the artifact? How can he say those words?” my thoughts are in disarray every time I think about it. “And the way he looked at me after saying all those things makes me think that he is indeed knowledgeable about this artifact.”

As I am thinking of the things that happened yesterday, I did not expect to get a visit from mother, who had brought me some snacks.

“I see that you are still working on that.” She says after seeing me holding a pen, “Yes, but I am just about to finish up. The events yesterday got to stop thinking about artifacts today,” I reply.

Mother just smiles and leave the snacks before going back. I feel bad about lying to her, I just can’t tell her about the artifact without learning more about it first.

“Let's just hope for the best, Ibis.” I say to myself as if decided to take a break.

While I am enjoying the snacks that mother left me, I opened my window and saw the same old man from the gathering yesterday staring at me. In response, I hid myself. I did not expect nor realized that he would be following me.

“What the hell was that?” I ask myself, even though I don’t know the answer to that.

I slowly move my head to take a peak, and he is still there staring at my window. Cold sweat run down my cheeks as chills make my body go numb, “What the hell is wrong with him?” I take another peak and he is gone. My heart felt relieved, but something tells me that something worse is about to happen, and I just don’t know it yet.

“What is this feeling? Why do I feel worried all of a sudden?” I held my chest and realize that my heart is beating so fast that it hurts my chest, “Is this fear? But why? Why is he staring at me like that?”

Overly conscious of the old man who was staring at me, my heart almost bursts out of my chest the moment a knock came to my door.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

“Ibis, honey? Can you come down for a second?”

It is mother, I don’t know, but I feel somewhat relieved that it was her, “Yes, mother. I’m coming.”

Before leaving my room, I glance outside my window to make sure that he is completely gone and then head outside feeling safe. But not for long. My greatest fear just came true. I stood in the stairs in shock as I feel my body going old, “Eh?” I mumble.

“Ibis greet our guest, Mr. Hans.” My mother said with a considerable smile on her face, “Why do they not feel that?” I ask myself as he stands beside my parents.

“Please excuse our son, Mr. Hans. Ever since we received the result a year ago, he has been shy to meet other people.” My mother explains.

After a few seconds, I am able to recover from the shock. Even if I would rather not greet our guest, for my parents, I force myself, “Hello, I am Ibis. Nice to meet you, Mr. Hans.”

“Nice to meet you, young man.” He replies and shook my hand.

To my surprise, mother had already prepared our lunch and I have no choice but to have lunch with this person. I have no idea why mother and father don’t think strangely of him, “Is it just me?” I ask myself because it is weird that my parents don’t have the same reaction as I have, “Perhaps, I have become paranoid?”

That is one of the things that I have to consider. The shock from the introduction to a new world by an unknown artifact still affects me even after that experience stopped completely. I still have visions about it in my sleep, “I wonder if this is all in my head.”

Our meal proceeded smoothly as the old man acts like a regular old man. And surprisingly, the ominous feeling that I sense from him disappeared. It is unclear to me why, but I am relieved.

After eating, I excuse myself and go to our backyard to get some fresh air. To my surprise, he also follows behind me and we both awkwardly stare at each other until I decided that I should leave and let him be.

On my way to the door, he speaks of something that caught my attention, “Did it accept you?”

Shaken by what I heard, I stop and turn to him, “What did you say?”

He just smiles and tilts his head a little before answering me, “I said, did it accept you?”

Chills run down my body as I hear his words the second time, I am highly positive that he knows something. So to know more about what he knows, I muster up all the courage and ask him, “How did you know?”

“How did I know? I know because I can feel it. You felt it too, right? The ominous feeling that you got earlier, that is one of the things that your artifact can do. Send you signals if there is a threat, but after a while it disappears.” He explained what I felt, as if he was the one who gave me that feeling.

Consumed by my thirst to know more about the artifact, I gave up on the thought of leaving. “This is a chance to learn more about the artifact. I can’t just let it pass.” I say to myself.

“Can you tell me about it?” he smiles and gladly offer his knowledge about the Aegis.

Our talk went on for an hour, and I am surprised of the things that I learned about Aegis from him, “It's as if he has the Aegis himself. Incredible!” I can’t say it out loud. Though most of it are interesting, there is also danger in them.

“That is all that I know about Aegis. There are only two things that you should always do and remember. First, let its power flow within you. That way, you will grow stronger. Second, be wary. There will be those that will go after you. Especially now that it has accepted you as it’s master.

“I know that you are not aware of this, but Aegis is a sought out artifact by the entire world. Be careful, young man.” He sounded as if he no longer has time to talk, and just as I was telling myself, he looks up in the sky and says his goodbyes.

“See you next time, young man. I must leave. I have places to be.” He slowly floats in the air, “Will we see each other again?” I ask. And again, he just hits me with his smile, “You are the fourth holder of Aegis. We are bound to meet again.” He says and right after that, he disappears like a dust blown by the wind.

“For some reason, I have a feeling that we will see each other again soon.” It's just a feeling, but it is strong.

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FLAP! FLAP! FLAP!

A dragon lands inside a large cave and right after entering the cave, flames burst on every pillar that lights up everything revealing a few dragons inside.

(Have you me the holder?)

(Yes, he is odd, but he is different from the last holder. I can see that this time it will be different.)

The dragon that just arrived transforms into the old man and sits on a chair, “I like this holder personally. I hope we can meet again soon.” He said as his eyes turns red.