The Fallen Soul

Nathan rubbed his eyes, the first thing he noticed was he was sitting upright. as he opened his eyes and looked around. There was the same opera singing filling the air. As his eyes focused he saw varying shades of blue velvet draping over everything. The ceiling was a clear glass dome, revealing thousands upon thousands of stars. There were sixteen tall backed armchairs, all blue velvet. Above Nathan’s head on the back of the chair a golden XII had been carved into a wood plaque. None of the other chairs were marked, and empty, with the only people in the room were in the very center gathered around a small table.

Nathan got up and walked towards them, they were three relatively tall men. The shortest of the three, was older, balding with wild long white hair around the sides, pointed ears, bulging eyes with wild black eyebrows. As Nathan grew closer to them, he noticed the most noticeable feature was his long hooked nose. The tallest was dressed in a white suit with bright blue accents, his long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. His face was completely covered with a white mask with butterfly wings painted on the sides. The third man was clearly six feet tall, his tanned skin contrasting with the paleness of his comrades. His brown hair was just long enough to fall in front of his baby blue eyes that seemed to glow. His black shirt was tight on him, revealing strong muscles that added to his intimidating look, however his jeans showed plenty of wear. He was rather young looking yet he seemed to know more than he should.

The tanned man was the first to turn directly to Nathan, “ah, so this is the first one to awaken...” His gaze looked over Nathan and a smirk grew across his face, “you remind me of an old acquaintance… Tell me Igor, what fate is in store for him?” His voice was deep yet gentle, as if he knew Nathan was frightened.

The masked one put a hand on the older one, “go ahead, tell us, what is it the cards hold for this child?” A deck of cards fell from his sleeve, shuffling themselves as they floated to the table, splitting into three piles.

The older one jerked, almost unaccustomed to moving, and with continuous jerking motions he held his hands over the table. One card from each stack flipped over, “The Tower, Three of Swords, Nine of Cups…” The words tumbling out, as if he was not practiced in speaking, “...he will be a lifelong guest” Closing his hands the cards merged, revealing a card similar to Atlas’.

“Good Igor,” the masked one picked up the card, “a crucified clock… hm, this will be interesting to see how this persona develops and emerges…” The card fell onto the table splitting back into three. “My name is Philemon, Igor here is my newest assistant, You have met the others… You have awakened to a long kept power… Yet you were not near demons... Your will to protect is strong and will lead you to an interesting Fate…” Philemon spoke in fragments his speech breaking apart.

“You may call me Dr. L…” he looked over into a corner where a little girl had been standing, yet Nathan had never noticed her. “That is my ward, Jubi… No doubt you have many questions but our time is short…”

Jubi had approached Nathan, “Look, we’ll be talking to you more later… when you get to school just come to the office.” Despite being a young child, she was straight to the point and did not enjoy dancing around a subject. Her black hair braided into two tails that covered her shoulders, she was wearing a simple summer dress. “There’s no point in talking about what you’ve witnessed to anyone, they won’t believe you…” She had walked Nathan to his chair, “go ahead and sit, they forget you’re human and actually need to sleep…” She forced Nathan into the chair and he started to drift off.

Nathan awoke with a startle, his alarm blaring. He managed to get up and shut it off, what had happened still fresh in his mind. He gathered clothes and a towel, hopping in the shower. As he rinsed the shampoo from his hair he noticed blood coming out of his hair. “I still have no idea what has happened since lunch yesterday.” After getting out of the shower he put on a bright green shirt and blue jeans. Slipping on his shoes and backpack he stepped outside, a woman in a red skirt and blazer over a white blouse circling the large ash tree in his yard.

Her pin straight black hair flowed around her face as she paced. “Ah, you’re awake, good. Dr. L will be ready when we get there.” She approached Nathan, her thick black framed glasses on the tip of her nose. “Let us go Nathan…” she pushed her glasses back up, never breaking eye contact.
Nathan was startled, “Um, excuse me?” Sure he felt as if he had seen her before but he did not expect anyone to escort him to school. At least nobody he was unfamiliar with.

“Just call me Ms. Lee,” she took Nathan’s hand and practically dragged him to the school. She unlocked the office and led Nathan to a large wooden door. As she opened the door she chuckled, “don’t look so confused… things will make sense shortly.”

As Nathan walked in he noticed there was a large desk in front of a window with an older man sitting in the chair. “Ah, Nathan, welcome to my office,” the voice was firm and deep. “You must have some questions, I am indeed Dr. L. You’ve already seen Jubi on this side as well…” he smirked and motioned for Nathan to sit down.

Nathan pulled up a chair and sat down, “but, how?” He realized that he did recognize Jubi as Ms. Lee only she was older.

“Well the Velvet Room is different from this world… there we appear as we are, but here we are older due to our actual age…” Dr. L leaned forward, “now I must ask that you keep your classmates safe, for the world is about to face a new darkness it hasn’t seen for eons…” Dr. L looked at his clock, “although we don’t have time to chat further, enjoy your classes today…” Dr. L escorted Nathan to his door, with a few words they said goodbye and Nathan walked off to class.