MYST story spin-off (one of my class asignments)

Unable to Die

By Tyler Ingram

Time; such a profound thing. Why is it that
I, unlike so many others, am not affected by such a thing? I see all around me
people rushing to someplace, rushing to someone, rushing…rushing everything. I
guess it makes sense in a way. Those who have limited time rush to get many
things accomplished as they possibly can. I feel sorry for them, for the fact
at how much time they are allowed. But at the same time I hate them, for they
get to move on while I am stuck here to watch them. Why was I chosen for this
retched task? Unable to die…unable to move on…unable to forget. That is what
drives me crazy at times; being unable to forget. I still remember it. The day
it happened, the day that exiled me from the afterlife… Oh how I remember…

I
awoke suddenly. I had fallen asleep on the floor of my study, scattered around
me where open scrolls strewn about around me. I looked out the window and saw
that the sun had risen just above the mountain ridge to the north.

“SHIT!
I’M LATE!!!”

I
quickly threw off my toga and put on my traveling tunic and bolted out of my
house. Atlantis was just waking up; the Roman soldiers were still drowsy as
they marched by. I sprinted through a few allies and collided with one of the
local peddler’s stands. I got back up and started running after regaining my
balance. As I ran, the dirt road was beginning to slow my pace. The rocks and
holes in the road kept making me stumble every few seconds. As I started to get
closer to the group of elder scholars I tripped, taking down Miserus, who known
for his grumpiness. After a second I heard a familiar voice, it was my mentor,
Magistrus.

“Well
it’s about damn time, Cyrus! But I thought as much from you, a kid your age
shouldn’t keep their elders waiting. Why are you still down there? C’mon, get
up!”

“Kid?
Please, Magistrus, I’m 22. I am not a ‘kid’ anymore!”

“You
still act like one at times Cyrus.”

Magistrus
was probably one of the only people in Atlantis that did not think that I was
crazy. Most of the scholars on the island thought my ideas and theories where
nothing but ramblings of a madman. I theorized that our world was one of many,
that it was created by a race of people more advanced than ours. These people
could create a link to different worlds by describing them in a book, then that
books could be used to travel to the world described within it. They thought it
was a crazy idea. Why does it have to be crazy? Just because one planet works
one way doesn’t mean that other planets have to work the same way! Magistrus
had an open eye to any possibility.

We
left Atlantis and headed north, towards the mountains, to an old trail.
Eventually the trail led into a tunnel and, on the other side, the Grand Relic.

The
group could not move, they were in a state of awe and amazement, dazzled by the
size of this mammoth object. After a few moments I said,

“Come!
Let us go inside. There I will prove to you once and for all that I am not mad,”

“You
mean to tell us that that thing is a building?!” someone in the back of the
group said in shock.

“Yes,
and I believe there is more to this thing. Now do you see why I call this the
Grand Relic now?” I replied.

We
spent a long time at the Grand Relic studying the outside architecture, it
seemed so godly and magnificent in the way that there were no edges, but
curves, everything was rounded. The very tip of the Relic came to a twist, at
least I think, I could not see it very clearly as a storm was building.

It
was mid-day, I had just finished telling the elderly scholars about all that I
have found and learned in the past month. I told them about how there were two
brothers not too long ago. Both were evil to the core, and their father tried
to stop them and their evil ways. Sirus and Achinar were conquerors and
pillagers. They would travel to worlds of weak people and steal their goods and
destroy what ever they pleased. One day, their father, Atrus, was finally able
to capture one of the brothers. Achinar, the more witty and conniving of the
two was able to escape; he had let Atrus take his brother so that he could
escape.

“How
do you know this Cyrus? I for one do not believe a word you just told us.”

“Do
you not see this structure??!? Is this not proof enough?”

“I
think he built it himself!” said Miserus; several men started shouting that
they agreed.

“How
is one many to build something like this?? I think it is you who is mad!”

“Fine!
Then show us this object you call ‘a book’ and I will accept what you say to be
true…for now.”

I
took them into the Relic, inside there was a large vault door, and in front of
it was a pedestal. On the pedestal were six buttons with pictures of trees
surrounding each of them. I turned and said to the group of, now grumpy,
scholars and said

“The
only way to get to the book is through this door…”

I
turned to the pedestal pushed the buttons that I had numbered 1, 5, 2, 3, 4,
and then finally 6. The massive doors swung open to reveal a darkened, but
empty, room. I walked into the room as it filled with light from the hole in
its ceiling. I stood there for a few moments, and then collapsed to my knees.
That condescending voice spoke once again.

“There’s
nothing there… he is obviously delusional. Let us return to our homes.”

I
got up to leave the small circular room as the door slammed shut. I ran to them
and started screaming and wailing my fists against them, demanding that they
open. Instead, the walls began to retreat under the floor; I quickly realized
that I was being lifted upwards. After several moments of the walls quickly
moving downwards, the walls began to slow as two arching, wooden doors came
into view before me. they swung open slowly to reveal what lay beyond them.

I
walked forward, dumbstruck by the beauty of the room. This hall was more
beautiful that the pearly main gate. Stained glass decorated the walls which
had light coming through from some unknown place to reveal many colors of red,
brown, yellow green, and a few other darker colors. At the end of the hall I
could see an alter, which had a very small stand in the middle. I walked slowly
to the alter, taking in the magnificence of the walls surrounding me. Finally,
I was standing on the alter and noticed that there was an object sitting on the
stand, a very old looking object.

“This
is the book…the book…” I whispered to myself.

At that time, I was curious about the book
since the world had not yet invented books, and so I studied the outside of it
carefully. It was a black colored book and was covered with brown spots where
the leather had split. After looking at it for several moments I decided to
open it, oh how I wish I never did. The first page had a box, the image of
which was moving around, showing another place, it looked similar to that of a
library, but filled with more books looking similar to that of the one in my
hand. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A picture moving about on paper?
How could this be?

For
some strange reason, I felt drawn to touch it. At first it was just a
temptation, but it turned to a powerful urge. I lifted my right hand slowly
towards the picture and touched it, trying to feel the picture. The instance my
hand made contact with the page I was sucked into blackness. I could tell that
I was falling, but for some odd reason, I was not afraid nor did I yell. A
second later and I was standing in the place that I had seen in the image. The
room was plain. The only thing had decorated the room was the selves of books,
I followed the row to the end, and that’s when I saw him. He was sitting in a
chair, writing on a scroll. His hair was neatly trimmed, and black as night. He
had a beard that was thin like someone had drawn a line around his mouth. He
looked at me with his narrow face, which soon turned red with rage. He stood up
flipping the chair he had been sitting in over.

“Who
are you?! Did my father send you?!” he yelled in a furious rage.

“I-I
am not sure how I got here. I was exploring the Grand Relic and found a book.”
I was stumbling over my words, the man seemed angry enough that it seemed he
could kill me at any moment.

“Relic??
What are you talking about—Relic? That’s my home! You mean to tell me that you
broke into MY home and MY vault door and linked here with MY LINK BOOK??!” he
was more furious now. He lunged at me with clinched fists, his young face
gritting his teeth. He hit me in the gut; I fell to one knee then. As he walked
closer I jumped up, nailing my fist under his chin throwing him back to his
desk. He grabbed an object off of it and looked at me with a demonic grin.

He then ran at me with the object and struck
me in the chest with it. I could not move and I felt strange for a moment, I
look up and he put his hand to the first page of a book and disappeared.
Moments later he appeared out of thin air and said,

“This is the
punishment you now must bear for your actions of intrusion: you can never die.”

“How is that a
punishment? That sounds like a blessing from the gods themselves!” I said in
confusion, breathing heavily.

“FOOL!!! Go back
to you home and see what I have done, I removed the book from your world. I
just hope my father doesn’t try to aid you. Or else I will have to punish your
world even further.” He said with extreme disgust.

He then grabbed my
hand and shoved it against the book’s page, and I was soon back in front of the
vault door. Around me, the scholars were on the ground, motionless. I ran to
Magistrus’ body, he wasn’t breathing. As I began to cry over my mentor’s death,
the ground began to shake. I ran out of the Relic and heard a loud cracking
sound, I looked up and saw a large chunk of the wall was falling towards me.

I blacked out.
When I awoke I was being slapped in the face by a Roman.

“HEY!! WAKE UP!
Come on don’t die on me! Can you hear me?” he yelled.

“Wha-yes, yes I
can hear you… And no I’m not dying. ” I began to look around; I noticed that I
was on a small fishing boat. I could not see the island of Atlantis
anywhere.

“Where’s Atlantis?
What happened?”

“I wish you could
tell me? Only thing I saw was a giant wave come from no where and crash into
it. After the wave was gone, so was the island…then I saw you, just floating in
the water.”

It
was then that I learned by what that man meant, to make me live forever knowing
that I was the cause of so much death and destruction. The needless slaughter
of all those of who I loved and knew were taken away. Now Atlantis rests at the
shadowy depths of Poseidon’s Kingdom. Since that day I have been roaming the
world trying to see another Relic, I don’t know what that man’s father was
like, but it sounded as though he was the only one who could stop his son from
doing that much pain and that much destruction on anyone else. In a way, I find
it ironic that something that was meant to cause me pain and toil for eternity
would eventually cause his demise. But until he stopped, I can not truly move
on.