Mystic: The Tablets of Gilgamesh

Chapter Five
Search for the Egyptian Stone of Gilgamesh!

Adam and Sally stood before Crystal, he had the tablet in hand, she could go nowhere. She gritted her teeth and came up with an idea, one that would leave her alive.
“Give us the piece,” Adam said aggressively.

“Look, I’ll give you the piece, but you have to promise me you won't kill me,” Crystal said.
“And why should we do that?” He retorted.

“Look, I have the piece, it technically is making me stronger, I’m offering you the piece in return for my safety and take me with you,” she began to say frantically. “You don’t understand what Daniel wants. He’s evil, too powerful for us to take down alone. But, and this is a big but, if we work together we can gather the pieces. I know where they are.”

“I don’t trust her, Adam,” Sally said looking Adam in the eyes. She brushed her hair on her right side behind her ear as she looked to Adam, determination in his eyes.

“Fine,” he said to both of their shock. “But I make the rules.” Adam walked up to her and demanded the piece. “Give me that first, so I know we can trust you.”

“What? No!” Crystal shouted.

“Then we don’t have a deal,” he said clenching his swords handle.

Crystal hesitated for a bit before giving in. She handed the piece to Adam as grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her to Sally, grabbing her and flashing away.

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Adam arrived back at the base with Jellal sitting at the computer, not moving an inch as he greeting him, “Welcome back, Adam.”

“Thanks,” he replied to Jellal as Sally ran up to him and hugged him, the two have had a romantic history in the past.

“Jellal!” Sally exclaimed as she embraced him tightly.

“It’s great to see you too, Sally. The others are in the other room,” Jellal informed them.

They walked into the room Adam normally hung out at and found an Asian boy and a white girl, who he guessed was Mako and Alura from the photos.

“You must be Atom,” Mako asked.

“It’s Adam, with a ‘D’,” he responded with an annoyed face.

“Oh, sorry, I’m Japanese so English is my second language,” Mako informed Adam. “And this is Alura,” he said waving to her who wore a skirt and had black hair and red eyes, that was rare.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Adam,” he told them.

“He can’t summon yet he’s a Seeker,” Sally said sassy-like as she walked by and sat on the couch. Adam, livid, shouted.

“HEY, THAT’S NOT FAIR!” Adam bellowed before sighing. “Look, I just don’t know how to.”

Sally stood up and walked over to him and smiled, “I can help you,” she said with a smile.
“Really?” Adam asked, Sally nodded and grabbed him by the hand, making him blush and led him to the training room, a leviathan room for Adam to train in.

“Just focus, Adam,” Sally told him, “It’s about your focus. You should hear a voice calling out to you.”
Adam did what he was told, closed his eyes and tried to focus for a good hour. As he did, he heard the sound of silence. “DAMN IT!” He yelled, slamming his hand against the wall, hunched over and aggravated.

“Adam, Sally, come on,” Jellal told them as he walked in, he looked at Adam and hoped she could help where he could not.

All three entered the briefing room where Mako and Alura sat waiting around a digital table that could project holograms, Crystal was in another room locked away.

“I spoke to the girl named Crystal and she told us a man by the name of Daniel is seeking the stones to become immortal,” Jellal informed them. “There’s only two left, Mako, Alura and Sally, I want you to go to Bendigo, Australia and Adam, you will go to Africa.”

“Alone? Also,” he began to say, “Don’t we have three left?”

“No,” Jellal responded. “Crystal informed me that Daniel, whoever this is, has four, now. I’ll head to Antarctica to retrieve them.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Sally questioned.

“Yes, but we don’t have a choice,” he said holding his missing arm. “Now, break.”
They all dispersed and Adam went to Crystal’s cell where she was, the others headed out to their location.

“Why did you give m the stone?” Adam asked.

“Because,” Crystal started, “I’m tired of being abused and used as a tool. Daniel’s a megalomaniac. He doesn’t care for us, and you’re strong, so I figured there was a chance at survival.”

Survival? Was she playing him? He couldn’t tell, something about her seemed sincere. “Well, I hope we can help you. What do you know about the piece in Africa?” Adam questioned her.

She hesitated for a second, but after a few minutes, she began to spill the beans. “It’s in Egypt. The Pharaohs saw themselves as Gods, and finally one gained the powers of Gilgamesh, so he hid it away in a tomb. It’s a boobytrapped piece of stone.” Adam began to walk out when she stopped him.
“Please, let me come with you. I can help you.”

Adam was not sure what to do, if what she said was true, she could be of major use. And what Jellal doesn’t know can’t possibly hurt him. “Fine,” he said as he unlocked her cage by karate chopping the padlock. He blessed the jail so the curse Jellal put up would not kill her. “But you go back in there when we come back, deal?”

“Deal,” she confirmed with a smile.

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The two made their way out as they traveled to Egypt. Upon arrival, they took two camels to the Valley of Kings, an ancient gateway and tomb of the Pharaohs.

“This is it,” Cyrstal said as they came to a stop, the warm desert wind blowing sand on them. Adam wore a sand outfit, fitted with a headscarf, shaw around his face and white clothing. He pulled the piece over his mouth down and eyed the magnificent marvel. Just a few more and they were done, but this seemed easy, yet fast. You’d think it’d take longer.

“So, that’s the place,” Adam commented as he hopped down from the camel and began to search the place. He looked around as he walked in, the giant constructions towering over him and Crystal as they entered. Inside was a dusty place full of sand. Oddly enough, no officials seemed to be present.

As the two walked deep inside, they saw a large tomb door. Crystal nodded to Adam, “That’s it.” He pushed the doors open as a dusty hall descending down revealed itself. They marched down to find it to be abandoned as if the place had never been opened before.

The air was stale, it became hard to breath as they trekked the tomb to its depths. Adam looked to Crystal and began to question her.

“So, why did you join this ‘Daniel’ guy?” he asked. “Where exactly are you from? I notice you have an English accent.”

“I’m from Birmingham, UK. I was living on the streets when Daniel found me,” she told him as she thought back to her past.

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It was raining outside on a cold autumn day, Crystal was digging through the trash. She found a stale piece of bread and quickly grabbed it as her stomach growled. Her face looked sad, depressed and without hope. She ate what she could, she only wished she was loved. Truth be told, she never really had a family, she was disowned when she used her powers for the first time, everyone calling her a witch, demon or a monster. She never meant any harm, of course. But that didn’t stop the reactions to her powers.

As she finished the bread, she felt her hunger rumble more. “I wish there was something to eat.” She sat there in ragged clothes as she began to cry. The rain grew heavier as she looked up to the sky, wondering why God would forsake her as he did. No answers, prayer or not, no evidence, consistent things in her life turning south.

She heard footsteps all of a sudden, causing her to look up, hoping they could spare change. It was a male, he looked to be in his mid-20’s with blonde hair and bright blue eyes that almost looked like they could glow in the dark. “Why so gloom, little one?” She couldn’t figure out what to say, he seemed so nice to her and dressed really well, garnishing a navy blue suit with a white tie and brown Oxford shoes.

“I’m hungry,” she replied, her voice breaking from her sorrow.

“Is that so,” he answered as he knelt down to face her at her eye-level. “Here,” he began as he pulled out a fresh piece of bread. “I got it from the bakery down the street, I want you to have it.”

Without thinking or hesitation, she snatched the bread and began to devour it, the savory taste of fresh, cook and non-stale bread not found in the trash warmed her heart. “Who are you?”

“My name is Daniel Phisher,” he calmly said as he extended a hand out to her. “You, my dear, are a very special person, you know that?”

“Special?” Crystal asked. She had never been told that before, especially by a stranger. Was he to be trusted? He did give her fresh bread. “Why did you help me?” Crystal asked him as she looked up at his gaze.

“Because,” he began to say, “I want to help you.” He held out his hand to her as she then hesitated to grab it, but she did. His hands were warm, soft and reassuring. He pulled her up to her feet and looked her kindly in the eyes. “What’s your name?”

“Crystal, sir,” she nervously told him.

“Crystal? What a lovely name. Tell me, Crystal,” he uttered softly, “do you know what you are?” She didn’t respond right away. She knew it, he was going to reprime her for being born a certain way. “I’ll tell you: You’re what our people call “Mystics” and you’re a very powerful and unique one. You see, Mystics are separated into two classes, or categories: Seekers and Keepers. A Seeker and a Keeper are very much alike, but the only difference is their primordial power. That is either light or darkness. And you, young Crystal, are a skilled Mystic.”

“So,” she yelled, but then thought back that maybe it was not a good idea to snap at him. Daniel simply laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. Look, I would love to take you in and help make you a more powerful Mystic, potentially one that could save many lives,” he told her.

“I don’t want to! Everyone hates me.” She began to cry in her hands.

He raised her head with his finger on her chin and smiled. “Look,” he opened up with, “I understand people can be mean, but that’s just because they don’t know better. You and I are special. Maybe we can change the world, make them accept us. How does that sound?”

She pondered for a little bit. She did want to be good, but she didn’t like how everyone treated her, it angered her. This man was offering to make things better, not just for her, but for others: Humans and Mystics alike.

She nodded her head as tears ran down her face. “Good, come, we have a long trip home,” he told her as he put his arm around her shoulder and they began to walk away.

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Crystal came back to her senses when Adam asked again about her past. She told him what she knew, about how Daniel found her in the UK, starving to death. It wasn’t something he liked to share, but to earn Adam’s trust, it was the only thing she could do or say.

“Phisher?” Adam asked. That was his last name, but he didn’t have a brother, sister, mother or father as far as he knew. He had no family.
Deep inside sat a stone tablet inside the sarcophagus of an old Pharaoh. As they walked up to it, they were dumbfounded by the amount of gold and treasures scattered throughout the place.

“That’s a lot of treasure,” Adam said, but he was curious as to how this place had not been ransacked yet, let alone opened. Then he saw the coffin, he walked up to it and began to push it open as a body was revealed inside holding onto the fragmented piece of Gilgamesh. “This is becoming too easy.”

As he picked the tablet up, he turned to find Crystal behind him. A javelin of raw wind spiraling at insane speeds pointed right at him, he looked at it and then around him to see he was actually surrounded by ten of them. Suddenly, as if on queue, the tablet piece began to shimmer and fade away, as did the entire treasury room, becoming much older looking and empty, void of treasure. A Seeker appeared behind him, a Capricorn. Everything had been an illusion and the real piece was in his hand.

“While you played around, I found the real piece,” the Capricorn Seeker said; it was a female who wore a red hoodie and white leggings. “Thanks, kid, you led us right to it.”

Adam tightened the grip of his fists as he became increasingly angry. “So you betrayed me, Crystal?”
“We hardly know one another…” she began.

“You told me your story! Surely you trusted me a little,” Adam bellowed.

“That I did, but it was merely to lead you into a false sense of security,” Crystal remarked as the wind blade dug into Adam’s chest, blood slowly coming out. Adam winced at the pain as he eyed her. “Now, you’ll die, and thanks to you and the shadow realm, I can now steal your pieces of the tablet.”
The shadow realm was how Keepers teleported. Having teleported to their base with Adam, she now knew the location, or had a sense of it at least, and could enter the shadow realm and get there herself. The shadow realm, when one teleports, opens a gate of pure dark energy and enters a realm of demonic beasts and plant life as if the earth itself was copied and destroyed, that was the shadow realm.

“Good-bye, Adam Phisher” Crystal said with a smirk, “your brother says hello.” With that, the air spears shot to him, aiming to kill him in his entirety.