Grandmother is missing? That was the first thing that dropped in Achiel's mind. He couldn't bring himself to understanding what the situation was, yet he knew that he didn't have enough time. He had feared that something like this would happen if he left the old woman by herself, but the possibility was close to zero. He was the only one who had access to his suite. Could there be anyone else who had accessed the suite without his consent?He shook his head, trying to deny the thoughts building. Then he stopped moving his head for a while. "Did she? Did Mira come here?" He exclaimed. The last time, the only person who had a spare key to his suite was Mira. Though the door of the suite had a palmprint feature, yet it had its lock. "She can't. She simply can not. How dare she? I told her to stay put!" He started fusing over the thought. Even though he was yet to arrive at the conclusion, he couldn't help but dismiss the possibility. His mind wandered off for a while. It occurred
Achiel was too stunned to make an exclamation. What did Grandmother just say? Does she know whom she was looking at? She was not looking at one of her sons or children. She was looking at him, Achiel.Though Achiel had admitted that he would be her son. But wasn't that supposed to be metaphorical? When did the situation escalate so suddenly?Achiel kept a long stare at her. He didn't know what to say or what to think. Perhaps if Grandmother said something else, she would help him a little bit. He kept searching her face. That feeling, which he suddenly started to have escalated too. It was as though there was a fountain of the deep inside of him that held all those feelings. And at this moment, the deep had burst open, pouring out a flood of feelings. Strange and funny feelings. Of all the feelings, the one which stood out was the one that screamed;YOU KNOW HER BEFORE NOW. YOU KNEW DOROTHY BEFORE NOW. Achiel shook his head, trying to throw off that voice in his head. He couldn't
Grandmother was waiting at the door, and Achiel was still seated in the chair. When the old woman turned to look at him, even without a word from her, he was up on his feet. He walked to her and opened the door. They walked out of the suite. Achiel knew that he should be excited that he was about to find his parents eventually, but what were these strange feelings? Where did they come from? These unexpected reluctance and drowsiness?He was quite surprised to discover that the old woman could walk a length. Perhaps the medication of the doctor had its own magic. He led her to the McLaren. Grandmother stopped when she got to the car. Achiel could see where this was headed to. "When did you get this car? What happened to your old car?" She asked, not even looking at Achiel. For a moment, Achiel was a little stunned by her questions. For all he knew, Grandmother had never seen any of his cars. Grandmother had never for once stepped out of the White Hall through the door that everyo
"That was quicker than I thought." The voice of the old woman was heard behind him. "I don't know how it happened. I just found it here." Achiel replied in excitement. He was much more smitten by the sight of the tree than he was willing to admit. "You don't have to wonder. It is long overdue. It wants to be found. It led you to itself. It has been longing for you, too." The old woman explained. She was standing next to him now. Achiel turned to look at her. He was puzzled by the wealth of knowledge that rested in the brain of this old woman. Grandmother who would act as though she was clueless in the family meeting knew so many things as this? He shook his head softly. He couldn't really tell what the reaction was for. "Do not wait it out, son. Go to the tree." The old woman said. "Son?" Achiel was caught off guard by that remark. He could never have imagined that Grandmotjer would casually throw that at it. There was no lie. She definitely caught him off guard. Suddenly, whe
Achiel was bedazzled. It felt like he was held up in a sort of trance. Of course, he was well aware of the situation around him, yet it felt like it was way too far out of his reach. When Grandmother had called him a Whisperer, he had thought that she was making up a myth or overreaching. He could never in his right mind have thought that it was true. At this point, it was hard to choose what to believe. There was a huge black anaconda towering over him. When he looked again, the anaconda was no longer there. He felt a heavy splash of water on his body, which knocked him to the stem of the red hickory tree. He hit his back against the hard tree before he could be able to tell what was happening. He groaned, trying to help himself back on his feet. Realising what had happened, he concluded that the anaconda must have returned to the depth of the pond. What the hell is happening? He always knew that Jade City was a more traditional nation than the rest of the world, but he could n
Achiel staggered to the back at the impact. He could never have seen that coming. Ever since all of these started, has there been anything, anything at all that he saw coming?Both hands were clasped to his face as though it could minimize the damage that would happen. The light that burst into his face was hot and fierce. He should have thought twice before opening the envelope. He shouldn't have done it without consent. "Achiel? Achiel? Are you alright?" He heard the concerned voice of the old woman calling at him. He didn't want to look at her. His hands were still covering his face. He was scared to take his hands off his face. The old woman walked to him and grabbed his hands. "Let me see." She forcefully pulled his hands off his face. Achiel dropped his gaze at that, as though he wanted to bury his face between his thighs. "Why are you being such a lady, son? Let me see." The old woman held a scolding tone as well as compassion. It was hard to tell, which was dominating.
Achiel realised that the road was leading to the rural part of the city. Instead of bitumen and black tars, all he could see was plain earth and dusts which swept over and across the length of the car. He had been going at full speed until now. He had to slow down on the acceleration because of the gallops on the way. Finally, the car came to a stop at the side of the road. There were hardly any cars in sight. Killing the engine of the car, Achiel stepped out. He looked around him in awe. For a few seconds, he allowed himself to be distracted from the real motive of being here. "What the hell. Are there really places like this in Jade City?" He gasped. All his life, he used to think that Jade City was like heaven on earth. Most people who end up as bums on the streets were either the ones who took loans from loan sharks but were unable to pay back. And because of their inability to pay back, the loan sharks naturally sell their homes and several other properties. Those who were
Turning around, Achiel saw six old women and a man, each person holding a rod. Like a staff to help steady their weight. But looking closely, he realised that these new set of old people were not holding the rod like it was meant to assist them. Instead, it felt like they were holding it with another intention. For example, an intention to wield it. An intention of making it a weapon anything from that moment. Achiel didn't feel threatened. Why would he? He was a stranger. He had come to the settlement of these old people. Of course, they would be interested in knowing who the hell he was. If someone broke into his suite, wouldn't he be on his toes fighting the person to the end of their breath?The elderly man amongst the six women spoke again to the old woman who had offered Achiel a bowl of drink. "Huh?" Achiel was totally confused. The language spoken by the man was something he had never heard in his entire life. It felt like the syllables and words were racing on the tongu
~ THE THIRD DIMENSION ~A stream of golden light was descending from the sky at an insane speed. Its velocity was beyond the speed of the lightning. It was traveling in a wave and twirl. It kept going and going. When it zoomed past a mist of cloud, the details of the stream of light broadened. Earlier, it appeared as a golden stream of light, but now there seemed to be a hint of blue overshadowing the light. The blueness was like a hue around the golden light. Although the hue was not harsh yet, it was never to be overlooked. Suddenly, the stream of golden light collided with the peak of a bamboo tree. When the collison was made, a blinding light traveled from that place to the end of the whole forest. It was as though the whole place was enveloped in a white brilliance. After a short while, the light died out. When the light died out, there was a lanky and tall man seen standing on the tip of the peak of the bamboo tree. It was as thought hebhwd grown out of thin air. The body
The towering God of Cosmos stood tall and mightily behind Achiel. Mira still couldn't find the appropriate way to react to it. At first, she thought that he had disappeared with Achiel, but they were still there. Her eyes must be blurring out following the great shock. Suddenly, she noticed the God of Cosmos moving his hands here and there around the room. Mira's eyes followed the directions of his hands that went to and fro. In each direction that he waved his hand, a portal appeared. He waved his hands in five places, and five portals appeared. There was a portal that had been cackling all along. It was through that portal that Achiel wanted to take Mira to the kingdom. "Choose one." The God of Cosmos said out of the blue. "Huh?" Mira was startled by the instruction. She thought that the God of Cosmos had referred to her. When she lifted her gaze slowly to take a quick peek at the immortal being, she realised that she got it all wrong. He wasn't talking to her. He was talkin
"I can't believe that it really worked as you said." Mira added, awed by the scene that was unfolding on the screen of the phone. "But for how long will he function? I mean, how long would it take for the clone to disappear?" Mira asked. Her tone and voice showed how genuinely concerned and interested she was. She seemed to be clueless yet was fighting for all the intention there was to know. "You didn't have to ask the same question twice. Either way, I'll answer you." Achiel corrected, smiling at her. She should return the smile, but her busy mind wouldn't give her a break from the tumbling thoughts. "For as long as we want." Achiel answered. Mira's brows furrowed when he said those words. The confusion was scribbled on her face. It was way too glaring to be hidden. "We?" Mira finally asked the important question. Achiel sighed as he looked away from the screen of the phone. "I know that all these are strange to you, but you need to grow on the fact. It's something that you
Outside the Shangri-la tower, there was a scary type of quietness. The level of quietness was really something that could never have been envisaged by anyone. The reason was that there were lots and lots of people who stretched from those premises of the Shangri-la to several kilometers away in a long, broad, and single file. For all these numerous people that have different tastes and have subscribed to different notions and beliefs, to be this quiet, it was something that could never be overlooked. The quietness didn't come of its own accord. Instead, everyone was staring seriously at his phone. Those who were not staring at their phones were looking at the large billboard that was etched into a corner of the tower. Everyone was staring keenly at the screen that was accessible to them respectfully. But what was happening on the screens of all the phones and the billboard were the same thing. Everyone gasped at the same time. On the billboard, there was a lanky man who looked
Klaus's question attracted a lot of reactions. His words were weighty, and not one person was willing to look to the other side. "Klaus!" Zoe suddenly called at him. Klaus took a glance at her. When he saw her, he looked a little tipped off. For a sheer second, he had forgotten that Zoe was here. In the grand scheme of events at this moment, Zoe was the least important person around when it came to status and class. It was already a wonder that she was present here. Perhaps if she didn't have a feather, she wouldn't be here either. Even Klaus has his. "Don't be offended by my choice of word." Klaus plucked his gaze from her and turned to the whirring camera first before paying attention to the people present. "Pay close attention while I explain this. After this, the couple would be invited in to be celebrated and tied." Klaus's composure had tuned."Although it would totally be an honor to do this even though we are not worthy." Klaus's tone suddenly changed. Something strange
On the floating peak of Shangri-la, there were numerous people settled down on high-end chairs made out of the purest red gold ever refined. The skin of real-life wild cats that were hand woven were sewn about the chairs, serving as resting pads and the main places where the bum would rest. There were several men of dignity positioned in thoughtful patterns across the space. The sight was so beautiful and opulent. Each of the dignitaries present at that place had a red feather at the top of their hats; each person had a hat on. irrespective of whatever you are wearing, there was a hat to match, and on top of each person's hat was a red feather. The invite!The red feather was the pass for each of the persons that was present on the Peak. The feather looked very rare. It looked to have been plucked from the wings of a Phoenix or several Phoenix.Although the color was red, yet there was this subtle highlight of yellow that made it seem as though it was multicolored. But the truth w
About 19km away from the Shangri-la Peak, there was a flood of heads. An ocean of bodies standing in the way, making shuffles at occasional periods. The ginormous number of people stretched from that position up to the front of Shangri-la Peak. It was as though the world was about to end, and everyone had come out of their houses. It was even scarier than that. The whole city had come to a standstill because of the crazy number of people occupying all the roads and places.Voices, echoes, and screams were flying around. But one thing each of the people on the street shared was the urge to move forward."Has the wedding started?" A random person asked. "I'm not sure. The Peak is not floating yet. As soon as it starts floating, I'm sure that'd be a sign?"Two strangers were explaining to others who were surrounding them. "Get out of my way!" A lad sent a flying punch into the face of the last person to speak.Before the victim could react, the lad had run forward, pushing his way t
"It's you. It's really you." Laura repeated the words in an attempt to be emphatic. She had done it also to convince herself that she was in her right mind and was not seeing things. Achiel remained where he was standing as though he could not move. "How... How did you find me?" That was the tenth time that she had asked that same question. When she had received a message from godofcos claiming that he was outside her house. She had come running outside. Getting to the door of her apartment, she had seen Achiel standing there. The man from the store!!!She had been trying to engage him in a conversation, but the man had been staring at her all along. Standing there like a statue. But then suddenly, he replied her abruptly. Ever since then, he had gone mute again. She was really confused and didn't know what to make of this situation that she had earned herself. Achiel was trying to make things less weird between the both of them. If he went fully into talking to her, she might
Achiel was still standing where he was, staring at his phone. But the noise coming from distance was getting louder, and he couldn't ignore it any longer. He looked away from the phone, from the chat scene, in the direction of the noise. The group of high school students were still there. He wasn't ready to be concerned with who they were. Instead, what they were doing was something that he couldn't ignore. There was a lad who had been forced to be on his knees, while a group of bigger boys hit him repeatedly. Achiel had seen this at first but brushed it off because he was trying to gift Lauretta. Although, earlier, things were not alarming amongst the group compared to now. He started to walk towards the scene. In a matter of time, he was already close to the group. "Are you still going to keep talking?" One of the three big boys said to the victim, hitting him on the back of his head. "You will report to the principal again, won't you?" Another guy slapped the victim across t