Post by SwitchKun on Sept 11, 2008 14:49:08 GMT -6
The Three Soul
By Ryan
PART I – Teh-For
In the dim twilight hours, just after and midnight, and still a stretch for dawn’s daily comings, there is a mystical power that manifests in our very minds. The dreams of millions and millions of humans occur each night during those precious hours and each and everyday those fortunate to remember their dreams contemplate them, and try to think about what those dreams mean. Such contemplations never hold to their words, and just like any normal person, they let those dreams die and eventually they gain new dreams, only twisted to meet what their minds want, the insane drives of each individuals Id. They never thought that perhaps there was something beyond human that was apparent in our dreams, there was science however, the binding force that keeps us here. Yet science was not created to explain the rules to us, as the mind of one boy saw it, instead he saw it as an anchor, to keep us from going insane. This young boy was peculiar, but nobody needed to know that. He wasn’t one to stand about and watch as scientists came and went with their theories to prove this or that. Either he knew that something was different with this world, or maybe he did want to be chained down by simple conclusions, given names and properties like gravity and inertia. They were just words, and everyone took it upon themselves to actually understand such concepts, for the advancement of the human people was paramount! This boy was only ten years old at this point in his life. The year was 1998, in a worldwide sense; it wasn’t much of a year that stood out. In this young child’s mind it was just another year of his life, and he had somehow acquire a sullen nature that made him second guess every statement a teacher made. But to him, he was different from those good for nothing jokes that did nothing but scream out their dim witted opinions in the middle of class maybe so they could get a girl to go out with them, this was middle school after all.
His name was never known to the world, at least not his parents name, but in due time he would become something more than just a sullen kid who never really appreciated life. He went by the name Teh-For, a name he had created to his liking. Surprisingly, it originates from a story he was writing when he was very small child, and he had accidentally misspelled the words he was going to write. He took it as his name, as a dull reminder that nobody is perfect and perfection is merely an illusion that humans love to strive for. Teh-For was different from the average humans in many ways; physically he was below average, he did not care for brawn or might because his train of thought was bent on knowledge, but not of facts. The knowledge Teh-For posses was a knowledge that one out of a million people do on this simple planet of ours, the strange phenomenon of a true genius. Nobody is sure, why or how geniuses come about, and Teh-For did not care too much either—he just accepted what he had become and was glad for it as well. He drifted through middle school, trying to think of ways he could control people who possessed traits he did not have to complete tasks that he wanted to be completed. He was always strange in the sense that nobody was really sure of what Teh-For wanted to do. Why did he even want to control people, was it insecurity? Some people might have thought so, but Teh-For was certain that he was no insecure, and was well aware of the ideas of many psychologists. He eventually gave up talking to most people he had associated with, he never once shared his dreams or goals.
His parents were normal, and although they worried about him, and so did his teachers, somehow this tiny bump in his road got flattened. Sometime between eighth grade and tenth grade the teachers and the parents stopped caring for their little demented child, who was twice as smart as all of them combined, and yet his genius never showed because he purposely got B’s and C’s in his classes. It was lovely spring time, and Teh-For was enjoying the idle chatter of two young ladies.
One of them was Kelly Vansen, a girl who he had known about—but never really bothered with, much like any female who had ever been graced by his presence, he found them to be unnecessarily complex, yet intriguing, which he labeled as a human element. They were usually more stunning than the brutish male figures who often tried to impose themselves onto him, but Teh-For was much to smart to get caught by the likes of a boorish jock. Teh-For had watched so many of his classmates of the years that it eventually became second nature, he wasn’t desperately interesting in the fact that Kelly was planning a sleepover next weekend, or the fact that her last physics test was hard. The other girl, who went by the name Laura, was supposedly Kelly’s best friend, to the genius child who was busy watching them, it was all irrelevant. They wouldn’t really notice him, much like how a student wouldn’t notice any other regularities. Like how Dillon who sits behind Teh-For enjoys tapping his pencil during exams, or how Clayton likes to freestyle rap after class with his buddy Steve who sensitive about his weight. Teh-For new all of this purely by observing these people, studying their actions and thinking about how they might turn out. He had started this project nearly five years ago and so far his predictions of human development were correct. Laura had become a cheerleader, and Kelly had been set on an academic path, and never really thought much of the strange fantasies of her many lovers.
“Oh, Laura, I think your name is cute though. I wouldn’t think that…” Kelly was saying, and Teh-For thought to listen for a while longer before pretending to his math homework. “My daughter’s name is going to be Laura, just for you!”
‘I always found it interesting, how girls talk like that… I guess I have thought this many times before, but everyone assumes they are going to have children, do people not die? I wonder…their loyalty is never really set in stone either, I can’t really help but laugh at this idea of human existence, yet that is why am I here… for some twisted purpose…to say the least I can try to understand my fellow humans, it is better than trying to associate myself with animals… which humans very much are.’
Teh-For always thought to himself as if he were talking to his subconscious, he enjoyed the thoughts as they came and had become partial to writing some of them down, but he mostly wrote down one thing: the dreams that happened to him each and every night, and ever since his first year in high school he has been having the same dreams over and over again. He knew that this was not a normal occurrence, even though people sometimes have reoccurring dreams, these were different, sequenced, like a movie or slide show. He was thankful that he was one to write down his dreams, ever since he was old enough to write, yet he had come to understand one thing about this new occurrence of dreams. Teh-For is a genius, and he knows that his motivations are bent on two factors: one factor is that he is smarter than 99% of the people he meets, and the other factor is that he has no desire to live in such a restrictive world such as Earth. Knowing himself better than anyone else and instead of troubling himself with friends or acquaintances, Teh-For busied himself with self reflection, as a safeguard against his own human self. If he knew what drove him, then he can understand when he is being manipulated. It was still a stretch to say that his own dreams were manipulating him into some bizarre trap that would forever change his life in ways he did not prefer.
“I was going to be a cheerleader, but… my mom didn’t think I would like it…” Kelly was still talking to Laura and Teh-For found such idle chatter annoying and decided to leave class again. He didn’t need to offer a reason, it was generally accepted that he wasn’t going to do anything rash, but like any silence rouge, he would forever be accused of bringing a gun to school and shooting everyone, or taking his own life from him. Such ideas were idiocy, there was nothing more important than being alive, and when you are dead you are a corpse, nothing, eventually forgotten. Teh-For did not want to be remembered, but he didn’t want to fade away into nothingness. As for destroying the lives of those he found most bothersome, the students at his very school… that idea had come and gone like leech on the neck. Destroying them wasn’t something he would be able to do. A gun? He couldn’t fire one, but he was certain that he could get someone to do it for him; after all he was confidant in such abilities as to manipulating those who could not possibly fathom his intentions. No, the troubling part was leaving his safe hold. He needed a place to keep him well fed and warm while he continued to draw his map.
The map was utmost important- the map was something that he derived from his dreams, and it did not really tell one where they were, but it did tell them how to get somewhere. It was incomplete, and in his senior year, Teh-For knew that just before college rolled around his map would be complete. By the end of summer he would have completed the map and then he would test it. The animal in the change has no thought of getting out of it, as long as it is fed and kept warm, eventually it doesn’t see the need to try to escape, yet Teh-For was human, and like any human the thing they want most must be completed, and he would try to the best of his ability to get out of this insane wretched hell known as Earth. Where humans came and went and did what they thought was beneficial. Did it never once come to their attention that maybe life could prosper without advancement? Stuck in this day and age… the year was 2007. Much had happened over the years and Teh-For ignored every historical event that had taken place… he had decided to stop using common human idiocy as a justification of becoming their ruler. He no longer wanted to lead these stupid mindless beings to better heights, during his school years he had just confirmed what was apparently embedded into his mind: that humans on Earth are going in one direction he refuses to follow. Perhaps he was foolish in thinking that all humans were stupid, no in fact he had known some fairly intelligent and wise people who could be worthy of Teh-For’s world, but the young man, now 18, and soon to be 19 coming this November, would decide not to be anything but a psychological phenomenon for years to come. Yet, there was still one summer left before he could complete his maps and the dreams were becoming more and more distinct as if calling him.
So, Teh-For wrote into his journal, one that he would leave behind, along with the blueprints of his map, it was as if he was planning a trip.
‘I think I might leave this world behind, knowing full well that there is a trap waiting for me. The idea that there is something out there trying to draw me into their world is unsettling. I understand what they are trying to do so I make a idiotic gamble: I have chosen to leave Earth behind for the dumb mortal humans, hm, I guess they aren’t all dumb, the only reason I really say that and think that is because it makes it easier for them to understand. If I was too abnormal then they would notice, and the last thing I want is for more stupid people coming into my life and ruining my plans. I am an ambitious person, I’ll have you know, but you will remember the name Teh-For for the rest of your pathetic lives…’
The dream came once more to him, as it had for the past five years, and each time it gave him a new insight as to what he had to do in order to escape from this world. It began like this.
There is a pure white glow, surrounding all sides, presumably an empty space. There is no shape, or definition, just pure white, soundless and irritating. This lasts, for about five minutes or so, a transition eventually occurs and a black hole appears in the middle of the endless white space, spinning, giving motion to the entire module. It is seen through the eyes of Teh-For, but no physical features can define him, much like one going through a simulator. The black space opens and darkened tunnel comes, filled with strange luminescent fungi. The rock is black like coal, and shines like granite. The tunnel is much like a massive cavern, with enough room to stand at full height and still have a good meter above you. Once more Teh-For follows the tunnel about, traveling it as if he had a thousand times before, which was true-he did have the dream a thousand times and more already, and this time was no different, it wouldn’t be in till the proper time came. He walked out of the tunnel and this is what he saw: a beautiful golden city filled with strange creatures that had brilliant scaly wings and strange opaque skin. They sung songs and spoke in their language that sounded like odd repetitions of the TH sound. Odd whispers filled his mind as he toured the golden city, going into taverns that were empty, save a few phantoms and ghouls which he cared little about. The dream then carried him back to Earth, and it was here that he found himself standing on the street, his house could be seen out of the corner of his eye and then he looked up at the sky, and could see that the time to leave was coming soon. Yes, the dream had ended soon after this point. Then he shifted once more, he was thrashing around in his own bed, screaming and removing his clothes, very much unlike him indeed!
Then the dream ended, and Teh-For awoke, writing down the new description and thinking over of what it meant. It would take more time to get there, to that odd golden city… through the black tunnel… yes he was aware of the resemblances to heaven, and it was possible that his own demented self had created this repetition of dreams, but if that were true his life held no meaning and he would terminate it.
He had graduated from high school already, and he could do whatever he wanted. He was partial to playing video games, and thinking of strategies, but his lack of job prevented him from really having any hobbies or pleasures. He was a slightly pale child, smooth skin, average boy with slightly unkempt brown hair. His eyes were a soft gray blue; his stare didn’t hold any strength, unless of course the situation was right. It was all bent on a matter between reflecting upon him, and reflecting upon others. If he was staring inside of him, his eyes were inattentive, absent almost from their normal functions, but when he was staring outward at people, seeing the words that they were speaking and taking in the things that he found to be interesting, then they were hard, almost cold and attentive to the point that might frighten a small child. He flipped through his journal, reading passages he wrote when he was younger and thought much about his life and how he had gotten here. Even to him, the sullen and distraught boy who never really accepted other people to be the same, this coming was an enigma. He was so self aware of his own self that he new of the creeping poison of dementia. He was on the very brink and was walking a fine line between rationality and endless chaotic fantasy. If he was asked as to what his parent’s names were, he would not be able to answer without giving much thought. He knew so little about his family; it was as if he wasn’t meant to be with them. He was a bit frightened at first, when he didn’t seek out the embrace of his mother or father, where as other children were crying in kindergarten, waiting for their parents to come and retrieve them.
His teachers used to think of him as depressed, but his school functions remained constant, and his writing skills were always better than the spread. He once had the thought to write in his journal, “I love you mom and dad…” but he never really got around to it, because he couldn’t remember a time of ever saying that—were his parents even real? He could always hear them moving about inside of his home. They never really spoke to him and when they did it was usually things of little importance. “Do the dishes son…” his father once asked of him, and Teh-For did it without any complaining or reward. His mother once offered him an allowance, and eventually he stopped caring about money and eventually gave it back to her. She was puzzled, and proud he assumed, that was when he was twelve years old, whereas any other child would have kept the money. He had eaten his dinners with them but they only looked at him and saw their son. Maybe he was adopted, and yet they were just waiting to throw him out, but he was eighteen now, and still living here… yes they could wait in till he goes off to college.
He would be leaving soon yes, but not to college.
“There is a point in which society learns... the walls each day are the same color, as they mindlessly walk through the halls. It was in that point that I found out something crucial to my survival... that I am no different than those timeless, unpainted walls...”
He had written that after his freshman year of high school. Teh-For, the invisible genius, who managed to outsmart his teachers, and society as a whole. He sighed and closed his book; he wasn’t that mindless… a smile breached his face. “I wonder if I can trust these dreams, these dreams that have come and taken me from my life…”
“We shall see…”
It was August, and on Teh-For’s calendar it was the date in which he would be leaving. There was one more dream to be had, and that was crucial to this journey. After the dream had come to the point in which he had finally began to understand the meaning of the bed, for he had found that is wasn’t his bed because of the head was against the other wall. He began to do calculations after that, continuing to draw out his map. The map itself was a bunch of complex diagrams, and he had come to think that in this world there were many connections to another world that existed outside of this one. His theory was very well formulated.
In the instance that one, such as Teh-For, were to fulfill the requirements directed to him, then he might be able to travel from this place upon the material plane, to another. Gaps in which regular society would only encounter it once every so many centuries—these gaps are spaces, or portals, that lead one from this world to another. Teh-For used a basic understanding that isn’t universally recognized but has been published before. The plane exists, heaven is above us, physically no- but on the planer level it is above us. When knowledge about dimensions is known, one knows about the gaps between space, and time. Teh-For knows that planes exist much like dimensions do. Heaven is generally listed as above us, the weight of our sins drag us down to hell, only if the soul is weak and does not fight the call of the hells. Teh-For had learned of such planes, but was more intrigued by the free planes that surround Earth and share the material values. He believes halfheartedly that there is life out there, but not in outer space, in outer planes. The farther you go from the material central plane, the less life you encounter. So when one travels on the same x-axis or z axis of the world, only a new exciting world awaits. Much of this was mentioned in the idea of astral projection, for spirits can travel the gaps of planar space without much trouble at all.
Such was a world that Teh-For thought he would be going to, and he was surprised that so many humans fail to believe in such wonderful concepts. ‘Besides the fact that we live in a world of physical science, I can’t see why any creature from the outside would want to come here… to earth, the world that lies directly between heaven and hell, the one place where life and death are certainties, and everything is bent on rules, I don’t think anyone is more cursed than humans, who are forced to live under the eyes of god, forced to dance from the fires of Satan…’
So he rested for a week and finally a dream came that broke the cycle of his usual dream. Being asleep he could not possibly fathom the horror he might receive upon awakening. There was Kelly Vansen, dressed in her usual attire. Jeans, black shoes, tight shirt, sweatshirt, often red in color. She was watching her friend cheer at some game or another and she turned to face the viewer of the dream. “I always wanted to be a cheerleader!” she said, and the words echoed in Teh-For’s mind over and over and over again. “But my mom didn’t let me…I was so jealous of Laura, but don’t tell her that!” these words too echoed inside of Teh-For’s mind. “You live just around the block don’t you? We’ve never really met before… ha-ha!” her laughed stayed in his dream like a nightmare, and then he was inside of her house, and she was showing him her room. Her hair was longer than usual, it had highlights in it, it was a light amber color and her eyes were green and intense. “This is my room… do you like it?” she asked and there of course was no response. He could see that the room had purplish walls, with pink splotches that made it look rather feminine. The bed was next to the window, and there was something oddly familiar about it. He moved forward into his dream and he could see her clothes were neatly put away in the closet, about five or six pairs of shoes were also found here and her family was pretty well off from his understanding. The nightstand was white in color, and had a fairly large mirror in the center of it, with a vast array of makeup and other girly tools that were utterly pointless. “Oh! Makeup! You should try some on…ha-ha!” however, and luckily, he never got the chance. Teh-For awoke with a start, and he was sweating feverishly and then he rolled out of bed and onto the floor. The violent shift in his dreams had to serve some sort of purpose. Did he really think that much about that girl that years of oppression had manifesting into his unconscious and eventually submerged when the map was almost complete but then he remembered the room… yes, the room!
Perhaps his subconscious effort to observe Kelly Vansen over the past ten years of his life was not wasted after all! Her bed had to be the one that he had seen in his previous dreams; the portal to the other realm lay in wait in the Vansen household! The date was approaching, two weeks from this very day! Were the conditions right? His mind raced at the thought that he had finally completed his map and he wrote it down.
Come midnight, he is to lie in Kelly’s bed, and then he would make it to the golden city he was promised, but he didn’t believe that part of the dream. No, no… it was certainly a trap. Yet knowing this, Teh-For would still go and complete his mission. His mounting ambition that he had acquired over the past five years—yes they would be completed; if only he could get Kelly out of her house…
No, no… that was not necessary, for she would be gone that weekend, he had overheard it conveniently while taking a stroll at the part, she was talking on her phone and was telling one of her friends that she would be going up north somewhere that weekend. He would watch, and make certain that nobody was home.
He had finally stopped having such odd dreams after the demented one with Kelly and her overly friendly voice. It was as if someone was interfering, at yet at the same time playing right into their hand. Was someone warning him not to go through with his plan? Perhaps there was more worth to human life than he first thought. He had to stop thinking of vile thoughts and soon he cleared his head. It wasn’t that humans themselves were wretched people, it was the society, Teh-For had come to hate. This system that controls our lives, spawned from some odd idea that we should be free but locking ourselves up in unimportant matters…that is what Teh-For despised, and so he made a vow in the final words of his journal.
“My name is Teh-For, my real name has been lost to me ever since I was a child and I don’t see the need to ever retrieve it. I shall tell you what I think of you, my people… my loyal subjects who had done nothing but help me in my search for this new world. Once I have returned to Earth I shall guide us to a grand new era of existence, where can strive to whatever ends we choose…a place you can not possible fathom awaits…farewell my subjects and now I depart.”
The odd boy stood outside of the Vansen household, across the street on the curb looking at the ground intently. He could hear that female voice anywhere now, it was embedded into his memory as he twiddled his thumbs, he wasn’t irked or disturbed by the fact that yes, he was about to enter their home, much like a robber was, and the reason for his entry was so that he might go to another world, in which he had learned about through a series of dreams that had occurred almost every single day for the past five and half years. If he had opened his mouth and spoke of his claims he would be in a straight jacket, as the ‘funny’ kids would say. It was actually quite frightening; he was going to do it now, Friday night, the appointed night in which he would be transferred from one world to the next. He would have to extremely careful. He paused for a while as Kelly loaded her luggage into the car. He watched her knowing that his human id was telling him that she was beautiful and he must go talk to her, yet his overbearing conscious self oppressed such nonsense in a matter of seconds.
You are cute my dear, but the only reason I have ever thought of you is because it was necessary to know about you in order to go to this new world…
She laughed, and then she got into the car, and so did her parents, the perfect family outing, and it was all working according to plan. The only thing that troubled Teh-For was that the plan was no his own, and some higher power, that could very well be a Satanic like being, yet he doubted that Satan himself existed, for in his definition there were many hells, and many heavens as well. Soon he would extend himself beyond the grasp of the reality and into the fiction of Earth, the truth of the real universe. He picked up a small stone and examined it carefully, his clear blue eyes were staring at the stone and he could see that it was rough to the touch. It left an annoying powder on his hands and eventually he threw it away. Like the stain of this earth however real it may have felt, he was going to go to the next world, and experience something new. He dreaded the experience, knowing it was a trap, calculating that a being more powerful than him was trying to lure him, but there was a weakness there, a potential chance at underestimating him and of course, there was something else inside of Teh-For he himself did not even know existed, and it was because of this strange hidden power, that Teh-For would make it.
Then a sound broke the silence, the car was slowly pulling out of the driveway. All three Vansen members were present. Dad behind the wheel, mom next to him in equal jubilation, and Kelly tucked away in the back smiling and holding on her personal bag. He waited, ten minutes went by. Fifteen minutes went by and it was seven o’clock. He knew what he was waiting for now, not a chance that they might return, but for their neighbor to come at around ten, to let out the Vansen dog, and make sure that nothing was amiss. Slip in while the neighbor was elsewhere, and find his way into the girl’s bedroom. When one was twisted by reality the way Teh-For was, there was little rationalization about this entire process. He had to do this, and of course there was an exit strategy in case the map in fact was false. Darkness came, and soon it was nearing eight thirty. Then someone came down the street, jingling a pair of keys. Teh-For was nearly invisible in the darkness, wearing nearly all black as he watched this person walk up to the Vansen household and slowly open the door and enter. His heart raced as he crossed the street, taking each step with care. There was a lovely mist starting to form, and the dull brightness of the street lamps pulsated as he neared the driveway. He made little noise, and waited at the front door thinking through the process. He could hear barking, and then the back door open. He slide open the white front door and then noiselessly closed it. He could hear barking and a female voice, whoever it was that was watching the house was about Teh-For’s age, for her voice sounded like a high school student at least. He moved across the living room and eventually made his way down the darkened hallway and into Kelly’s room. He paused for a long time staring at the clothes that were left here; they were all vibrant and lovely, much like Kelly’s personality. A few pairs of shoes remained, and of course the white nightstand filled with makeup and other female tools of enhancement. Then he heard a noise of someone moving through the house, the steps, even on carpet were distinctly coming closer and closer. His mind raced, it must be one of Kelly’s friends, coming to sneak about in the rooms! Or maybe to find something to do, or maybe abuse the house features. He tiptoed into the closet which was luckily open already and he was standing on some odd pair of shoes embraced by an array of shirts and sweatshirts that would rather not associate himself with. The door was closed when he had come in, but thankfully, the person watching the house did not know this. The girl stepped into the room and looked around and Teh-For’s heart pounded inside of his chest, he fought the urge to wipe the sweat from his brow and odd sense of logical thought came to his mind.
Why did I do this! This is madness, insanity! I…I can’t go on… I must jump out and admit to her!
He fought these urges as the girl reached for the lamplight but then stopped and shook her head. Teh-For knew this girl was Laura, Kelly’s all time best friend, and certainly just as beautiful. The thought that perhaps, the girl was going to enter the closet and take some clothes was quite a possibility, one that Teh-For, in his rashness had not taken into account. Better yet would have been to go into the parents bedroom, but the matter of time and situation were overbearing. Laura was about to leave when she returned unexpectedly and flashed on the light. She walked over to the bed and leaned over and found a pair of jeans that were neatly folded on the bed.
“There you are!” Laura said and then turned off the light and left the house, slowly, Teh-For’s heart returned to normal. He wiped the palms of his hands on his pants and then stepped back into the new found darkness of the room. He found it rather odd to be lying in a bed of a female, he thought to himself that this was the bed that Kelly slept in every single night, unless she was going to a sleepover or staying elsewhere. He could see her beautiful self lying down and he slipped off his shoes and socks and then pulled back the sheets—he had to fight ever single nerve inside of his body, for the excitement was swelling inside of him. What if it worked? What if it didn’t? It was like a thousand Christmas Eve’s all in one night, the bubble in his chest grew to a mountainous amount and he stared at the ceiling wide awake, it was nearing ten o’clock. He had thought this would happen, and so he had prepared by staying awake all of last night and that fatigue would soon steal away this bitter excitement. Slowly he could feel the two forces feeding on each other and he began to sweat under the pink covers of the bed. He slipped into a strange sleep and time slipped by idly.
Then it began to happen as Teh-For slowly felt himself waking up, why was he waking up? Was he there? His eyes snapped open and the white dark ceiling of Kelly’s room was still above him. He cursed in his mind, but something was not right. He could feel something aching on his back and he tried to rub at it. It felt as if someone had poured a molten hot marble down the back of his shirt and it burned on his back more and more. It was extremely painful and he bit his lip to prevent him from screaming out and waking up the neighbors. He had to reach that strange burning liquid that was oozing on his back. His mind envisioned a gel or ooze that had been stuck there, still in liquid form sucking the very life out of his body. He ripped off his shirt at that point and was no longer sleeping in this girl’s bed. He reached his hand to reach it but it was perfectly placed in a position he could not reach. He fell to the ground and began to roll around as tears rolled down his cheeks. As he rubbed his back on the floor the ooze spread, although he could not see it, he could feel it moving across his back like pancake batter. He stood up then and tried to get it off with a blanket, but his arms were slowly burning away at the elbows and he was slowly being lifted up towards the ceiling. He could not cry out yet he wanted to as his body touched the ceiling. Slowly, steadily the ooze trickled over his back and over his arms; the pain was so intense he long felt anything else. It crawled up his neck and eventually fell across his face and into his eyes and mouth. He passed out due from extreme pain and as he did the ooze took him away from this world to a place that he was not expecting…
“Today in the news a young boy went missing, and his clothes were found in the house of Jim and Karen Vansen. Their daughter, Kelly, reported finding strange clothes in her bedroom upon returning from a camping trip in the boundary waters. They were traced back the young boy and investigators have been looking feverishly for him…”
“After searching through the home of the missing ‘Teh-For’ many researchers found mysterious notes and other documents talking about a strange and mysterious world…”
“November 1st, 2007. The mysterious being, known to the world as Teh-For has been missing for nearly two months now, and has been officially reported as deceased in till found… the funeral will begin at….”
* * *
Chapter two
A strange dull noise of dripping water could be heard as it echoed throughout a massive cavern. The body of a half naked boy was sprawled between layers of jet black rocks that shimmered against the dull light of the blue fungi that dwelled there. The dull ambient noises of the cavern were obscure enough to drive anyone insane, as the twisting and winding pathway lead somewhere unknown and mysterious. Teh-For, stirred, thinking of nothing, feeling nothing as his eyes slowly came open. They stared for the longest time at the pitch black ceiling. If it weren’t for the strange blue light of the mushrooms and various mosses, he would have thought that it did not work. He shifted his weight for a moment, testing his body, hoping that it was broken or deformed in anyway. A few black rocks that he was lying on stuck to his back as he slowly lifted himself onto his hands. The sitting position made him feel sick, but he had to get over it eventually. He had never really thought that this world wasn’t meant for humans, but he could breathe the air, and all seemed well.
The boy tried to stand up a few times, only to sit back down irritably. He never knew that getting here would have been so taxing on his body, not to mention the automatically repressed pain that he had to endure in order to complete it. Clearly the portal was not very clean, which meant that this world was unstable in some fashion. That was the conclusion that Teh-For had come to, but he was still uncertain as to how much time had really passed. In reality, it had been two months already, and he was dead to one world. The noise of the water and the semi-darkness of the cave were Teh-For’s motivations for getting out of here and into the next area where supposedly, the golden city awaited him. He doubted it though…there was no way that such a magnificent place was anywhere around here… this place was different a farce a trap. Teh-For eventually came to crawling and sliding across the rock bottom of the cavern floor, and eventually found what appeared to be the exit. What he saw while laying on his bare chest did not surprise him, but it was an awesome sight nonetheless.
In front of him was a city indeed, with gray ashen walls, with each building inside of its perimeter similar in color. It was down a nearby hill that was littered with bones of deceased individuals. The city itself appeared to be a spider web of alleyways and various sectors, and was actually more inhabited than the city of gold in which Teh-For had dreamed of. The sky was black, instead of blue yet it wasn’t dark. There was a bright white orb that sat unmoving high in the sky, although it felt as if he were still in a cavern, not in an outside world. He could see that all around him were high towering cliffs, and the realization came that he was in a very small world that lacked various properties a complex world might have. To the north was a massive building, it was even larger to the city, which was bigger than the town that Teh-For had grown up in. Behind him, supposedly west, was a towering cliff with about nine or so large cave entrances that were etched in the side of the caves. He looked south and saw a small desert and swamp stretch out before the southern most cliffs appeared, and then as he scanned eastward he could see a hilly forest black and disgusting in nature. He was surrounded, like a rat trapped in a cage. A perfect example indeed—his dream was the cheese that might lead him to the trap, and the bedroom had been the collectors box. He managed to stand up, but he didn’t feel any temperature about. He should be cold, but he wasn’t, he wasn’t cold, warm, and hot, cool he just was, and a tension rose in his stomach and this world was beginning to become a mistake and fast. First step, he would have to clear his mind and get to that city-- that is the starting point. He managed to walk down the skeletal hill and he reached the west gate.
As he approached the gate he was confronted by something that emerged from behind the steel bars. He was awed by its appearance, which was mostly naked, yet it wasn’t human at all. Its skin was a pale pink color and it had long arms that extended down from its broad shoulders. A massive head rested peacefully on the shoulders, and two eyes, much like a whale, stared at Teh-For with utmost interest. It didn’t appear to have a mouth and that is why Teh-For was surprised when he could hear it speak, inside of his mind.
“Welcome human child…to the grand city of Eljar… of course, this entire world is known as Eljar, and because there is only one city here, it really is the only name we can give to it…” the thing was polite, and well mannered and apparently wise. These are the traits Teh-For picked up immediately…finally his mind was getting back on track. “So you can understand me?” Teh-For asked and the creature laughed. “The way you said that is quite interesting, as if you were calculating, testing… hm. Let me explain to you the rules of this place… of this wretched hell…” the creature said expanding his arms out as if to embrace the entire world.
“This entire world, as I have said before, this is Eljar. It really isn’t a world, more of a prison…of course a normal person like you would expect that we are the prisoners, yet our jailors are the true prisoners and that is why we are here… this world is governed by one force, and one force alone: the power of the half gods. There are nine half gods that inhabit this world, and indeed they are not the happiest of beings…you might wonder what a half god is, no? They were once beings of great power that walked the heavens alongside the gods, but for some reason unknown to us mortals, they were banished to a half world forever sealed in this demented place with nothing better to do than to quarrel with each other. However, the plan of having the gods kill themselves did not work out, instead they fell into a strict hierarchy, and they began to extend their power outward from this distant world. Yet because it was small and easy to control, it was no problem at all for the half gods to extend their power to other planes of existence. Much like the Earth you came from young human…”
Teh-For listened intently, and he was willing to believe this unbelievable story mostly because it made sense to his own demented thoughts. There were nine half gods here, and this strange creature knew about Earth. There many other pressing questions, but seeing that this world seemed less bent on survival, he would have plenty of time to ask this creature about various questions. “There too much for a young human like you to obtain in just one day, so I will take you into the city… ha! Yes of course we must be acquainted first… you may call me Edgar, it is a human name… but my real name can not be spoken…” Teh-For nodded, “Very well Edgar, I am Teh-For…now tell me what you are.” He asked and the thing stopped for a moment. “You are quite a touchy fellow, but there is a reason they choose you to come here… Teh-For…such an odd name, but still…I am an Eljarian, my people are the plane-shifters, but you will learn more later when you have the time, come into the city… no more time for words…”
The Eljarian lead Teh-For from the city gates and into the gray city itself. The houses and complexes were mainly built of stone, and it lacked any form of glass or more modern day structures, implying that this world was less technologically advanced. He could understand why of course, the half gods were the rulers of this world, and they could make things the way they saw fit. He supposed that the guardians brought him here because they wanted to test his intelligence, and besides the fact that he had hidden it so well they were able to see right through that. Clearly, there must be some sort of test they would put him through, and he was curious as to what it is. The two of them walked down the main street, and the boy couldn’t help but notice other strange people walking around. There were a few more Eljarians, tall and pale in color as well. There were a few of the scaly winged people, who’s former glow no longer shined as it once did in the city of gold. Their sightless eyes seemed to peer at him once and a while as the tall Eljarian lead him down the road. The stopped after walking a few blocks from the western gate and the Eljarian turned to face Teh-For as the stood in front of a shabby looking hut.
“I want you to meet Troy, I think you might be able to understand him, I think he is from your world… the tall being walked into the shabby looking house as Teh-For stayed outside looking at all of the people walking about. They didn’t seem to be doing anything except that they were all depressed and down. ‘I though I was tricked, I think I might have a way of getting out of here…’ Teh-For thought to himself as he sat down on the gray soil that blanketed the city and it’s buildings. There was something odd about the southern side of the town that had caught his eye—a set of towers were set up with a high wall that was too close to be the southern wall… there were sentries and guards who were patrolling the walls, and the boy could see men stationed in the tower. Perhaps there was some sort of division inside of the city?
“Ah, master Troy is not home, this is quite bothersome…” the Eljarian reported returning from his raid of the human’s home. Teh-For stood up, expecting to be taken somewhere else when a strange wailing sound was heard. He turned to the east, down the road and he could see a man running towards them. He was screaming and looking behind him quickly and his expression was that of terror and utmost fear. Teh-For was instantly curious as he came closer and closer to them. Then he saw what the man was running from, a two headed statue of a peculiar design was floating a few feet above the ground chasing him. One of the heads was embedded in the stone chest of second head, which stood at the top. It was clearly a female statue, seeing the protruded breasts that were engraved into the body of the creature. It had four arms and sightless black eyes. Eventually it caught up to the fleeing man and placed one of it’s hands on the man’s head. The man slowly stopped resisting and a loud and wretched scream escaped his lips as a barely visible aura came from the top of his head and into the stone fingers of the statue. There was a long pause and when the process was over the statue slowly floated back to wherever it had come from.
“Ah…poor human…poor Troy…” Edgar said shaking his large head sorrowfully. “What was that thing…?” Teh-For asked curious as to what sort of business had just occurred. “Unji, the half goddess of luck… she placed her shrine here in the heart of the city…of course the real half goddess most likely lives inside of the grand temple, but that is one manifestation of her I am certain. The half gods create such things to act as soul collectors. They bring prosperous individuals from a variety of worlds, and then they challenge them to various games to see if they can win. If they manage to win at the gods crazy games, they are free to go wherever they please. Of course the games are nearly impossible, but there is one exception: Unji’s challenge. It is purely based on luck. However, the stakes are so high that nobody dares challenge Unji outright. Death is a more welcome thing than loosing your soul to the stone soul collector…ah poor Troy, poor troy…” Edgar seemed quite upset at the fact that the challenge had been taken by Troy, but Teh-For had a feeling that he would someday be there challenging the goddess of luck at whatever game it was. Certainly the gods would expect him to take some form of the intelligence challenge, but he knew that they would make it impossible for him to win, instead he would have to win by luck, and when he did…he was curious.
“Has Unji ever lost before?” he asked and Edgar stopped to think for a moment. Then he shook his head. “About a hundred people have played her in that ridiculous game, and each and everyone of them had their souls removed… and each and everyone one of them were humans…” these was extremely interesting for Teh-For, and a rare smile crossed his face. ‘Unji…we shall cross paths soon enough…’
“Well, the house is yours, for Master Troy will not need it anymore…” Edgar said slowly turning away to leave. “I will come back later…I am sure you will figure much out on your own small human…” The Eljarian lumbered off down an alleyway heading northward. Teh-For looked over the small house and found that there was a bed shoved up against the eastern window, the sheets were dull and tattered. His eyes followed the back wall and saw various cupboards which were half open and there was no indication that anyone had lived here at all. He was self aware that the needs to survive were much reduced. One’s sanity became almost as important as one’s ability to draw breath… hungry and thirst was not apparent in this world. Teh-For guessed that nine half gods could easily have fused their power and make a more stable world, one more enjoyable for them, but he guessed that there was some internal conflict that prevent them from bonding together… they might have a leader, but they would not work as one being. They tortured other people for their own merriment, a fair break in their games, and if someone managed to beat them they might even find peace, or drift into another hell… perhaps they were trying to gain the attention of the gods who had cast them into this hell in the first place. He found a soft rug and found that it was damp in some areas, yet he had come to find that this world also lacked any form of insect or animal… this world was purely dedicated to keeping the sentient beings alive, which meant that the half gods had strange constrictions on their powers. This gave Teh-For a reason to believe that he could win, but he would study Unji later, there was something else he had to do… he had to grasp the laws and rules of this world first, learn about the various people. There was something that this place lacked that even Earth had a little of: unity. There were at least three or four different races here in this city, but Teh-For guessed that there were even more, but he knew that he would have to observe each race carefully before even attempting to speak to them. He figured that the Eljarian didn’t know his human tongue, and wondered if the half gods made some power to make the races to understand each other… yet this was a theory he would have to test out at a later time. While sitting on the rug he stared out of the wooden doorframe and looked at the two towers that were guarding something… perhaps a sector of people? He could not be certain but he had already formed a list of questions to ask Edgar the next time to they crossed paths.
He reflected for a few minutes, but his intelligence cut in. ‘I can not think of how or why I am here, such it is a mistake of human thought, I must concentrate on how I am going to get out of here… preferably, I am going to manipulate the people in order to defeat the guardians, or at least one in order to gain passage out of here… there is a risk that if one of the guardians fall the entire world would collapse, but I highly doubt that they would risk defeat on a single member, after all they follow easy to understand patterns, it is their motives that I find difficult to comprehend… but being such an abstract thinker can help me.’
He had to learn about the people he could control before he could strategize on how to defeat the immortal half gods. Yes, the basic idea seemed to make sense and knowing a first step and aid him in calming the despair of challenging such a fierce opponent, not to mention his first…
Then he slumped backwards falling unconscious.
* * *
Teh-For’s life had ended. On Earth that is… for his gravestone was another addition to the Oakwild City Graveyard, and yet he kept having a strange and frequent visitor. She had no idea who Teh-For was, besides the fact that he had gone to her school, had snuck into her house and slept in her bed. Kelly Vansen had visited the grave of Teh-For ever since his funeral as if to find the answer… she had exclusive rights to his strange map that he had drawn as well as his mysterious journal. The only mention of her name was on the map… “Kelly Vansen’s bed…”
Why her bed? Where the hell did he go? She hadn’t slept well in her bed ever since he… and in fact had been sleeping on the couch ever since. She began to have weird dreams about the boy she never really knew and wondered what sort of demented thoughts he might have had about her his entire life. A week after his death she kept saying to herself that she hated him and that he had ruined her life for no reason… yet there was no other way to explain it…she actually believed that he had gone to another world instead of going insane and cleverly hiding his body so that the police would never find him. Like he incinerated his body or some strange thing like that. Having read his journal, Kelly was surprised at the ignorance of the police and investigators on the case. “His prediction was correct… ‘when I am gone, they will think that I am dead… they will, like typical humans, think of some strange scientific explanation as to why I have died, then years later I will appear on some TV channel that will only regurgitate facts that have already been written down.’ I can’t wait for that show to come out…what on earth am I saying…?” she had been depressed, her features remained the same however.
Long brown hair, elegant blowing in the wind and yet her frequent visits to Teh-For’s grave gave her a bad look in the eyes of those who used to know her. She was free from high school of course, and she had vented her thoughts to Laura, who was going off to Arizona for some cheerleading thing and now she was alone, thinking about this stupid event that had to happen in her home! Yet some of her dreams were beginning to show her the world that Teh-For had described… the golden city, the glowing mushrooms and the strange angelic draconic people as he had called him. She was scared; inside she felt that something bad would happen to her… that she would be swept off to the world Teh-For had supposedly gone to-- afraid that a being from that world would come and take her away. She stood up, the day was cloudy, and November was brisk and cold… she was garbed in a black garment, as if to mourn his passing…
She left the grave site and returned home.
* * *
Time had no passage in this world, as Teh-For come to realize that the white orb suspended in the sky never moved. He once more began to think of a way to escape this world, and then Edgar came lumbering into his lodgings, it was a bit disheartening because Teh-For wanted more time to himself, but he still had many questions to ask the Eljarian nonetheless.
“I see you have done much thinking young human, you are not as mad-driven as I would have thought…” the low rumbling voice came and Teh-For nodded, “Explain to me how the languages are connected…” he asked first still staring past Edgar and at the towers that had entranced him ever since he had come to this world. “Hm… the gods are proving our weakness… despite being trapped in this same demented world we still come to separate ourselves from each other… we mark those different from us as lower beings…” the Eljarian replied and Teh-For turned to the tall pale creature. “You do not speak of yourself Edgar…” this remark caused the Eljarian to stare at the floor as if he were pondering something. “You…understand don’t you… the need to work together?” the way the Eljarian said it made Teh-For feel a bit unnerved, there must have been so many stupid humans who have come along and ruined perfect opportunities. “A problem as many solutions, and I can see how using as many people as possible could be beneficial.” This was not quite the answer Edgar was looking for, but he decided to stay on this young human’s good side and let it be.
“More importantly Edgar, I am in need of assistance, after all… I need to know every angle before I can win…” the Eljarian seemed puzzled by this attitude, and reflected upon it with a slow yet firm voice. “Listen, young human, this isn’t a game of chess or some other sort of game, this is a gamble between life and lifeless, although no one is sure… but if you loose your soul you will never go anywhere every again. I don’t want you to gamble away your precious soul, dying is one thing, but this…”
Teh-For was expected some form of warning and he had already prepared an answer for it. “I am different, I don’t loose, and I am a professional Edgar, if I can not win, than nobody can. There is not much to think about really, I want to know is everything there is to know about this place…” this did not ease Edgar’s thoughts in the least. “Well I guess I have no power to stop you, we Eljarians are peaceful creatures after all… what is it you want to know?” even though Teh-For had said he wanted to know everything, there had to be a place to start, a logical sequence in which knowledge was obtained.
“Tell me about every race here in the city and how they contribute and act…I will sit and listen…”
“Well young human, there are about nine or so races that inhabit this strange demented world. The first, and most populace are the humans… they cultivate eight of the cities nine sectors and get along with almost everyone, with their own agenda of course. Most of the humans who come here are either thoughtlessly strong, or weak, anti-social geniuses, I suppose you fall under one of those categories. They generally die most often, whether or not this is because they are the most populous… or if it is their ability to make foolish mistakes… I do not know. The second race is the Eljarian, like me. We are the fewest in number, and we generally stick to ourselves and to maybe a few humans here and there… we generally are wise and docile, and we do nothing but watch as the other races come and go within this timeless realm. We are the deep thinkers, recorders and philosophers of this realm. The next race is that of the espers, who number in almost as few as Eljarians… they are the angelic creatures who are golden and scaly, yet they are quiet and reserved. I have never really seen one talk before, but their radiance is a welcome addition to this dismal world. Their origins remain a secret, even to me… ahem. The next race is a sort of orcish race; they are brutish and very loud but strong and dumb. They were the ones who charged into the temple demanding retribution from the gods and they were all destroyed on the spot. From that day on they have sat in their huts scared to show themselves around the city, although a few humans have tried to befriend them, the language barrier is so ridiculous that it is no use. The next race is a smaller type of orc I suppose, they are keen thinkers, and very clever, but their superstition is their weakness. After seeing their larger brothers get destroyed in the grand temple these tiny goblins have stayed in their villas as well, and because they only speak to orcs it is hard for us to make use of their clever crafting skills… ah, sorry my anger can be aroused so easily while discussing our history. Ahem, anyway, the next race is quite an enigma to me… the mysterious shader-kai of the distant planes… I have heard that they are much like elves in nature, surely you have heard of an elf before… they live underneath the city, for they prefer the shadows that remind them of their home rather than that fake moon or sun that sits perpetually above us. They share their underground domain with the beings known as the draconic, which are much like espers, except they are more like dragons hmph. I have never really met a draconic seeing that my poor eyesight does not fair well in the darkened caverns, but I have heard they are smart and strong, and don’t really mind where they are as long as they are…what am I saying, oh well… let me continue young human it is hard to stay focused sometimes… ah yes the eighth race I believe… they are the sirens, who don’t actually live in the city very often, they inhabit the forest to the south and east…some call them dryads, and others call them woodland beings, but they are indeed magical creatures who only appear when they wish to appear. Now, I haven’t forgotten to observe you young Teh-For, I have watched where you eyes fall…” Edgar paused in his long retelling of the races and Teh-For seemed distraught, there was one more, and yes one more that was the pinnacle of his curiousity, yet Edgar had paused.
“Tell me, Edgar, who lies behind those towers! The fortress in the city… I must know it is my destiny.” The Eljarian was displeased by this human’s tone yet he was also curious, this person seemed absolutely insane, like if one were to do something normal he would despise it to no end. A feeling of curiosity mixed with a shred of doubt and fear came to the Eljarian for the first time in four centuries. “Very well, it isn’t that momentous… the race known as the fey live in that heavily guarded fortress, and the reason I am so adamant about it is because we tried to negotiate with them when we first arrived here, and they killed most of us off… they are our enemies, Teh-For. They are mix of eledrin warriors, outcast from their own worlds…those who possess immense magical aptitude. I fear that they came here not by the will of the gods, but the will of themselves. They are plotting to put an end to this world and move onto a more stable one so that they may conquer the world, do not think you can manipulate them! You are still just a small human, and they will des
By Ryan
PART I – Teh-For
In the dim twilight hours, just after and midnight, and still a stretch for dawn’s daily comings, there is a mystical power that manifests in our very minds. The dreams of millions and millions of humans occur each night during those precious hours and each and everyday those fortunate to remember their dreams contemplate them, and try to think about what those dreams mean. Such contemplations never hold to their words, and just like any normal person, they let those dreams die and eventually they gain new dreams, only twisted to meet what their minds want, the insane drives of each individuals Id. They never thought that perhaps there was something beyond human that was apparent in our dreams, there was science however, the binding force that keeps us here. Yet science was not created to explain the rules to us, as the mind of one boy saw it, instead he saw it as an anchor, to keep us from going insane. This young boy was peculiar, but nobody needed to know that. He wasn’t one to stand about and watch as scientists came and went with their theories to prove this or that. Either he knew that something was different with this world, or maybe he did want to be chained down by simple conclusions, given names and properties like gravity and inertia. They were just words, and everyone took it upon themselves to actually understand such concepts, for the advancement of the human people was paramount! This boy was only ten years old at this point in his life. The year was 1998, in a worldwide sense; it wasn’t much of a year that stood out. In this young child’s mind it was just another year of his life, and he had somehow acquire a sullen nature that made him second guess every statement a teacher made. But to him, he was different from those good for nothing jokes that did nothing but scream out their dim witted opinions in the middle of class maybe so they could get a girl to go out with them, this was middle school after all.
His name was never known to the world, at least not his parents name, but in due time he would become something more than just a sullen kid who never really appreciated life. He went by the name Teh-For, a name he had created to his liking. Surprisingly, it originates from a story he was writing when he was very small child, and he had accidentally misspelled the words he was going to write. He took it as his name, as a dull reminder that nobody is perfect and perfection is merely an illusion that humans love to strive for. Teh-For was different from the average humans in many ways; physically he was below average, he did not care for brawn or might because his train of thought was bent on knowledge, but not of facts. The knowledge Teh-For posses was a knowledge that one out of a million people do on this simple planet of ours, the strange phenomenon of a true genius. Nobody is sure, why or how geniuses come about, and Teh-For did not care too much either—he just accepted what he had become and was glad for it as well. He drifted through middle school, trying to think of ways he could control people who possessed traits he did not have to complete tasks that he wanted to be completed. He was always strange in the sense that nobody was really sure of what Teh-For wanted to do. Why did he even want to control people, was it insecurity? Some people might have thought so, but Teh-For was certain that he was no insecure, and was well aware of the ideas of many psychologists. He eventually gave up talking to most people he had associated with, he never once shared his dreams or goals.
His parents were normal, and although they worried about him, and so did his teachers, somehow this tiny bump in his road got flattened. Sometime between eighth grade and tenth grade the teachers and the parents stopped caring for their little demented child, who was twice as smart as all of them combined, and yet his genius never showed because he purposely got B’s and C’s in his classes. It was lovely spring time, and Teh-For was enjoying the idle chatter of two young ladies.
One of them was Kelly Vansen, a girl who he had known about—but never really bothered with, much like any female who had ever been graced by his presence, he found them to be unnecessarily complex, yet intriguing, which he labeled as a human element. They were usually more stunning than the brutish male figures who often tried to impose themselves onto him, but Teh-For was much to smart to get caught by the likes of a boorish jock. Teh-For had watched so many of his classmates of the years that it eventually became second nature, he wasn’t desperately interesting in the fact that Kelly was planning a sleepover next weekend, or the fact that her last physics test was hard. The other girl, who went by the name Laura, was supposedly Kelly’s best friend, to the genius child who was busy watching them, it was all irrelevant. They wouldn’t really notice him, much like how a student wouldn’t notice any other regularities. Like how Dillon who sits behind Teh-For enjoys tapping his pencil during exams, or how Clayton likes to freestyle rap after class with his buddy Steve who sensitive about his weight. Teh-For new all of this purely by observing these people, studying their actions and thinking about how they might turn out. He had started this project nearly five years ago and so far his predictions of human development were correct. Laura had become a cheerleader, and Kelly had been set on an academic path, and never really thought much of the strange fantasies of her many lovers.
“Oh, Laura, I think your name is cute though. I wouldn’t think that…” Kelly was saying, and Teh-For thought to listen for a while longer before pretending to his math homework. “My daughter’s name is going to be Laura, just for you!”
‘I always found it interesting, how girls talk like that… I guess I have thought this many times before, but everyone assumes they are going to have children, do people not die? I wonder…their loyalty is never really set in stone either, I can’t really help but laugh at this idea of human existence, yet that is why am I here… for some twisted purpose…to say the least I can try to understand my fellow humans, it is better than trying to associate myself with animals… which humans very much are.’
Teh-For always thought to himself as if he were talking to his subconscious, he enjoyed the thoughts as they came and had become partial to writing some of them down, but he mostly wrote down one thing: the dreams that happened to him each and every night, and ever since his first year in high school he has been having the same dreams over and over again. He knew that this was not a normal occurrence, even though people sometimes have reoccurring dreams, these were different, sequenced, like a movie or slide show. He was thankful that he was one to write down his dreams, ever since he was old enough to write, yet he had come to understand one thing about this new occurrence of dreams. Teh-For is a genius, and he knows that his motivations are bent on two factors: one factor is that he is smarter than 99% of the people he meets, and the other factor is that he has no desire to live in such a restrictive world such as Earth. Knowing himself better than anyone else and instead of troubling himself with friends or acquaintances, Teh-For busied himself with self reflection, as a safeguard against his own human self. If he knew what drove him, then he can understand when he is being manipulated. It was still a stretch to say that his own dreams were manipulating him into some bizarre trap that would forever change his life in ways he did not prefer.
“I was going to be a cheerleader, but… my mom didn’t think I would like it…” Kelly was still talking to Laura and Teh-For found such idle chatter annoying and decided to leave class again. He didn’t need to offer a reason, it was generally accepted that he wasn’t going to do anything rash, but like any silence rouge, he would forever be accused of bringing a gun to school and shooting everyone, or taking his own life from him. Such ideas were idiocy, there was nothing more important than being alive, and when you are dead you are a corpse, nothing, eventually forgotten. Teh-For did not want to be remembered, but he didn’t want to fade away into nothingness. As for destroying the lives of those he found most bothersome, the students at his very school… that idea had come and gone like leech on the neck. Destroying them wasn’t something he would be able to do. A gun? He couldn’t fire one, but he was certain that he could get someone to do it for him; after all he was confidant in such abilities as to manipulating those who could not possibly fathom his intentions. No, the troubling part was leaving his safe hold. He needed a place to keep him well fed and warm while he continued to draw his map.
The map was utmost important- the map was something that he derived from his dreams, and it did not really tell one where they were, but it did tell them how to get somewhere. It was incomplete, and in his senior year, Teh-For knew that just before college rolled around his map would be complete. By the end of summer he would have completed the map and then he would test it. The animal in the change has no thought of getting out of it, as long as it is fed and kept warm, eventually it doesn’t see the need to try to escape, yet Teh-For was human, and like any human the thing they want most must be completed, and he would try to the best of his ability to get out of this insane wretched hell known as Earth. Where humans came and went and did what they thought was beneficial. Did it never once come to their attention that maybe life could prosper without advancement? Stuck in this day and age… the year was 2007. Much had happened over the years and Teh-For ignored every historical event that had taken place… he had decided to stop using common human idiocy as a justification of becoming their ruler. He no longer wanted to lead these stupid mindless beings to better heights, during his school years he had just confirmed what was apparently embedded into his mind: that humans on Earth are going in one direction he refuses to follow. Perhaps he was foolish in thinking that all humans were stupid, no in fact he had known some fairly intelligent and wise people who could be worthy of Teh-For’s world, but the young man, now 18, and soon to be 19 coming this November, would decide not to be anything but a psychological phenomenon for years to come. Yet, there was still one summer left before he could complete his maps and the dreams were becoming more and more distinct as if calling him.
So, Teh-For wrote into his journal, one that he would leave behind, along with the blueprints of his map, it was as if he was planning a trip.
‘I think I might leave this world behind, knowing full well that there is a trap waiting for me. The idea that there is something out there trying to draw me into their world is unsettling. I understand what they are trying to do so I make a idiotic gamble: I have chosen to leave Earth behind for the dumb mortal humans, hm, I guess they aren’t all dumb, the only reason I really say that and think that is because it makes it easier for them to understand. If I was too abnormal then they would notice, and the last thing I want is for more stupid people coming into my life and ruining my plans. I am an ambitious person, I’ll have you know, but you will remember the name Teh-For for the rest of your pathetic lives…’
The dream came once more to him, as it had for the past five years, and each time it gave him a new insight as to what he had to do in order to escape from this world. It began like this.
There is a pure white glow, surrounding all sides, presumably an empty space. There is no shape, or definition, just pure white, soundless and irritating. This lasts, for about five minutes or so, a transition eventually occurs and a black hole appears in the middle of the endless white space, spinning, giving motion to the entire module. It is seen through the eyes of Teh-For, but no physical features can define him, much like one going through a simulator. The black space opens and darkened tunnel comes, filled with strange luminescent fungi. The rock is black like coal, and shines like granite. The tunnel is much like a massive cavern, with enough room to stand at full height and still have a good meter above you. Once more Teh-For follows the tunnel about, traveling it as if he had a thousand times before, which was true-he did have the dream a thousand times and more already, and this time was no different, it wouldn’t be in till the proper time came. He walked out of the tunnel and this is what he saw: a beautiful golden city filled with strange creatures that had brilliant scaly wings and strange opaque skin. They sung songs and spoke in their language that sounded like odd repetitions of the TH sound. Odd whispers filled his mind as he toured the golden city, going into taverns that were empty, save a few phantoms and ghouls which he cared little about. The dream then carried him back to Earth, and it was here that he found himself standing on the street, his house could be seen out of the corner of his eye and then he looked up at the sky, and could see that the time to leave was coming soon. Yes, the dream had ended soon after this point. Then he shifted once more, he was thrashing around in his own bed, screaming and removing his clothes, very much unlike him indeed!
Then the dream ended, and Teh-For awoke, writing down the new description and thinking over of what it meant. It would take more time to get there, to that odd golden city… through the black tunnel… yes he was aware of the resemblances to heaven, and it was possible that his own demented self had created this repetition of dreams, but if that were true his life held no meaning and he would terminate it.
He had graduated from high school already, and he could do whatever he wanted. He was partial to playing video games, and thinking of strategies, but his lack of job prevented him from really having any hobbies or pleasures. He was a slightly pale child, smooth skin, average boy with slightly unkempt brown hair. His eyes were a soft gray blue; his stare didn’t hold any strength, unless of course the situation was right. It was all bent on a matter between reflecting upon him, and reflecting upon others. If he was staring inside of him, his eyes were inattentive, absent almost from their normal functions, but when he was staring outward at people, seeing the words that they were speaking and taking in the things that he found to be interesting, then they were hard, almost cold and attentive to the point that might frighten a small child. He flipped through his journal, reading passages he wrote when he was younger and thought much about his life and how he had gotten here. Even to him, the sullen and distraught boy who never really accepted other people to be the same, this coming was an enigma. He was so self aware of his own self that he new of the creeping poison of dementia. He was on the very brink and was walking a fine line between rationality and endless chaotic fantasy. If he was asked as to what his parent’s names were, he would not be able to answer without giving much thought. He knew so little about his family; it was as if he wasn’t meant to be with them. He was a bit frightened at first, when he didn’t seek out the embrace of his mother or father, where as other children were crying in kindergarten, waiting for their parents to come and retrieve them.
His teachers used to think of him as depressed, but his school functions remained constant, and his writing skills were always better than the spread. He once had the thought to write in his journal, “I love you mom and dad…” but he never really got around to it, because he couldn’t remember a time of ever saying that—were his parents even real? He could always hear them moving about inside of his home. They never really spoke to him and when they did it was usually things of little importance. “Do the dishes son…” his father once asked of him, and Teh-For did it without any complaining or reward. His mother once offered him an allowance, and eventually he stopped caring about money and eventually gave it back to her. She was puzzled, and proud he assumed, that was when he was twelve years old, whereas any other child would have kept the money. He had eaten his dinners with them but they only looked at him and saw their son. Maybe he was adopted, and yet they were just waiting to throw him out, but he was eighteen now, and still living here… yes they could wait in till he goes off to college.
He would be leaving soon yes, but not to college.
“There is a point in which society learns... the walls each day are the same color, as they mindlessly walk through the halls. It was in that point that I found out something crucial to my survival... that I am no different than those timeless, unpainted walls...”
He had written that after his freshman year of high school. Teh-For, the invisible genius, who managed to outsmart his teachers, and society as a whole. He sighed and closed his book; he wasn’t that mindless… a smile breached his face. “I wonder if I can trust these dreams, these dreams that have come and taken me from my life…”
“We shall see…”
It was August, and on Teh-For’s calendar it was the date in which he would be leaving. There was one more dream to be had, and that was crucial to this journey. After the dream had come to the point in which he had finally began to understand the meaning of the bed, for he had found that is wasn’t his bed because of the head was against the other wall. He began to do calculations after that, continuing to draw out his map. The map itself was a bunch of complex diagrams, and he had come to think that in this world there were many connections to another world that existed outside of this one. His theory was very well formulated.
In the instance that one, such as Teh-For, were to fulfill the requirements directed to him, then he might be able to travel from this place upon the material plane, to another. Gaps in which regular society would only encounter it once every so many centuries—these gaps are spaces, or portals, that lead one from this world to another. Teh-For used a basic understanding that isn’t universally recognized but has been published before. The plane exists, heaven is above us, physically no- but on the planer level it is above us. When knowledge about dimensions is known, one knows about the gaps between space, and time. Teh-For knows that planes exist much like dimensions do. Heaven is generally listed as above us, the weight of our sins drag us down to hell, only if the soul is weak and does not fight the call of the hells. Teh-For had learned of such planes, but was more intrigued by the free planes that surround Earth and share the material values. He believes halfheartedly that there is life out there, but not in outer space, in outer planes. The farther you go from the material central plane, the less life you encounter. So when one travels on the same x-axis or z axis of the world, only a new exciting world awaits. Much of this was mentioned in the idea of astral projection, for spirits can travel the gaps of planar space without much trouble at all.
Such was a world that Teh-For thought he would be going to, and he was surprised that so many humans fail to believe in such wonderful concepts. ‘Besides the fact that we live in a world of physical science, I can’t see why any creature from the outside would want to come here… to earth, the world that lies directly between heaven and hell, the one place where life and death are certainties, and everything is bent on rules, I don’t think anyone is more cursed than humans, who are forced to live under the eyes of god, forced to dance from the fires of Satan…’
So he rested for a week and finally a dream came that broke the cycle of his usual dream. Being asleep he could not possibly fathom the horror he might receive upon awakening. There was Kelly Vansen, dressed in her usual attire. Jeans, black shoes, tight shirt, sweatshirt, often red in color. She was watching her friend cheer at some game or another and she turned to face the viewer of the dream. “I always wanted to be a cheerleader!” she said, and the words echoed in Teh-For’s mind over and over and over again. “But my mom didn’t let me…I was so jealous of Laura, but don’t tell her that!” these words too echoed inside of Teh-For’s mind. “You live just around the block don’t you? We’ve never really met before… ha-ha!” her laughed stayed in his dream like a nightmare, and then he was inside of her house, and she was showing him her room. Her hair was longer than usual, it had highlights in it, it was a light amber color and her eyes were green and intense. “This is my room… do you like it?” she asked and there of course was no response. He could see that the room had purplish walls, with pink splotches that made it look rather feminine. The bed was next to the window, and there was something oddly familiar about it. He moved forward into his dream and he could see her clothes were neatly put away in the closet, about five or six pairs of shoes were also found here and her family was pretty well off from his understanding. The nightstand was white in color, and had a fairly large mirror in the center of it, with a vast array of makeup and other girly tools that were utterly pointless. “Oh! Makeup! You should try some on…ha-ha!” however, and luckily, he never got the chance. Teh-For awoke with a start, and he was sweating feverishly and then he rolled out of bed and onto the floor. The violent shift in his dreams had to serve some sort of purpose. Did he really think that much about that girl that years of oppression had manifesting into his unconscious and eventually submerged when the map was almost complete but then he remembered the room… yes, the room!
Perhaps his subconscious effort to observe Kelly Vansen over the past ten years of his life was not wasted after all! Her bed had to be the one that he had seen in his previous dreams; the portal to the other realm lay in wait in the Vansen household! The date was approaching, two weeks from this very day! Were the conditions right? His mind raced at the thought that he had finally completed his map and he wrote it down.
Come midnight, he is to lie in Kelly’s bed, and then he would make it to the golden city he was promised, but he didn’t believe that part of the dream. No, no… it was certainly a trap. Yet knowing this, Teh-For would still go and complete his mission. His mounting ambition that he had acquired over the past five years—yes they would be completed; if only he could get Kelly out of her house…
No, no… that was not necessary, for she would be gone that weekend, he had overheard it conveniently while taking a stroll at the part, she was talking on her phone and was telling one of her friends that she would be going up north somewhere that weekend. He would watch, and make certain that nobody was home.
He had finally stopped having such odd dreams after the demented one with Kelly and her overly friendly voice. It was as if someone was interfering, at yet at the same time playing right into their hand. Was someone warning him not to go through with his plan? Perhaps there was more worth to human life than he first thought. He had to stop thinking of vile thoughts and soon he cleared his head. It wasn’t that humans themselves were wretched people, it was the society, Teh-For had come to hate. This system that controls our lives, spawned from some odd idea that we should be free but locking ourselves up in unimportant matters…that is what Teh-For despised, and so he made a vow in the final words of his journal.
“My name is Teh-For, my real name has been lost to me ever since I was a child and I don’t see the need to ever retrieve it. I shall tell you what I think of you, my people… my loyal subjects who had done nothing but help me in my search for this new world. Once I have returned to Earth I shall guide us to a grand new era of existence, where can strive to whatever ends we choose…a place you can not possible fathom awaits…farewell my subjects and now I depart.”
The odd boy stood outside of the Vansen household, across the street on the curb looking at the ground intently. He could hear that female voice anywhere now, it was embedded into his memory as he twiddled his thumbs, he wasn’t irked or disturbed by the fact that yes, he was about to enter their home, much like a robber was, and the reason for his entry was so that he might go to another world, in which he had learned about through a series of dreams that had occurred almost every single day for the past five and half years. If he had opened his mouth and spoke of his claims he would be in a straight jacket, as the ‘funny’ kids would say. It was actually quite frightening; he was going to do it now, Friday night, the appointed night in which he would be transferred from one world to the next. He would have to extremely careful. He paused for a while as Kelly loaded her luggage into the car. He watched her knowing that his human id was telling him that she was beautiful and he must go talk to her, yet his overbearing conscious self oppressed such nonsense in a matter of seconds.
You are cute my dear, but the only reason I have ever thought of you is because it was necessary to know about you in order to go to this new world…
She laughed, and then she got into the car, and so did her parents, the perfect family outing, and it was all working according to plan. The only thing that troubled Teh-For was that the plan was no his own, and some higher power, that could very well be a Satanic like being, yet he doubted that Satan himself existed, for in his definition there were many hells, and many heavens as well. Soon he would extend himself beyond the grasp of the reality and into the fiction of Earth, the truth of the real universe. He picked up a small stone and examined it carefully, his clear blue eyes were staring at the stone and he could see that it was rough to the touch. It left an annoying powder on his hands and eventually he threw it away. Like the stain of this earth however real it may have felt, he was going to go to the next world, and experience something new. He dreaded the experience, knowing it was a trap, calculating that a being more powerful than him was trying to lure him, but there was a weakness there, a potential chance at underestimating him and of course, there was something else inside of Teh-For he himself did not even know existed, and it was because of this strange hidden power, that Teh-For would make it.
Then a sound broke the silence, the car was slowly pulling out of the driveway. All three Vansen members were present. Dad behind the wheel, mom next to him in equal jubilation, and Kelly tucked away in the back smiling and holding on her personal bag. He waited, ten minutes went by. Fifteen minutes went by and it was seven o’clock. He knew what he was waiting for now, not a chance that they might return, but for their neighbor to come at around ten, to let out the Vansen dog, and make sure that nothing was amiss. Slip in while the neighbor was elsewhere, and find his way into the girl’s bedroom. When one was twisted by reality the way Teh-For was, there was little rationalization about this entire process. He had to do this, and of course there was an exit strategy in case the map in fact was false. Darkness came, and soon it was nearing eight thirty. Then someone came down the street, jingling a pair of keys. Teh-For was nearly invisible in the darkness, wearing nearly all black as he watched this person walk up to the Vansen household and slowly open the door and enter. His heart raced as he crossed the street, taking each step with care. There was a lovely mist starting to form, and the dull brightness of the street lamps pulsated as he neared the driveway. He made little noise, and waited at the front door thinking through the process. He could hear barking, and then the back door open. He slide open the white front door and then noiselessly closed it. He could hear barking and a female voice, whoever it was that was watching the house was about Teh-For’s age, for her voice sounded like a high school student at least. He moved across the living room and eventually made his way down the darkened hallway and into Kelly’s room. He paused for a long time staring at the clothes that were left here; they were all vibrant and lovely, much like Kelly’s personality. A few pairs of shoes remained, and of course the white nightstand filled with makeup and other female tools of enhancement. Then he heard a noise of someone moving through the house, the steps, even on carpet were distinctly coming closer and closer. His mind raced, it must be one of Kelly’s friends, coming to sneak about in the rooms! Or maybe to find something to do, or maybe abuse the house features. He tiptoed into the closet which was luckily open already and he was standing on some odd pair of shoes embraced by an array of shirts and sweatshirts that would rather not associate himself with. The door was closed when he had come in, but thankfully, the person watching the house did not know this. The girl stepped into the room and looked around and Teh-For’s heart pounded inside of his chest, he fought the urge to wipe the sweat from his brow and odd sense of logical thought came to his mind.
Why did I do this! This is madness, insanity! I…I can’t go on… I must jump out and admit to her!
He fought these urges as the girl reached for the lamplight but then stopped and shook her head. Teh-For knew this girl was Laura, Kelly’s all time best friend, and certainly just as beautiful. The thought that perhaps, the girl was going to enter the closet and take some clothes was quite a possibility, one that Teh-For, in his rashness had not taken into account. Better yet would have been to go into the parents bedroom, but the matter of time and situation were overbearing. Laura was about to leave when she returned unexpectedly and flashed on the light. She walked over to the bed and leaned over and found a pair of jeans that were neatly folded on the bed.
“There you are!” Laura said and then turned off the light and left the house, slowly, Teh-For’s heart returned to normal. He wiped the palms of his hands on his pants and then stepped back into the new found darkness of the room. He found it rather odd to be lying in a bed of a female, he thought to himself that this was the bed that Kelly slept in every single night, unless she was going to a sleepover or staying elsewhere. He could see her beautiful self lying down and he slipped off his shoes and socks and then pulled back the sheets—he had to fight ever single nerve inside of his body, for the excitement was swelling inside of him. What if it worked? What if it didn’t? It was like a thousand Christmas Eve’s all in one night, the bubble in his chest grew to a mountainous amount and he stared at the ceiling wide awake, it was nearing ten o’clock. He had thought this would happen, and so he had prepared by staying awake all of last night and that fatigue would soon steal away this bitter excitement. Slowly he could feel the two forces feeding on each other and he began to sweat under the pink covers of the bed. He slipped into a strange sleep and time slipped by idly.
Then it began to happen as Teh-For slowly felt himself waking up, why was he waking up? Was he there? His eyes snapped open and the white dark ceiling of Kelly’s room was still above him. He cursed in his mind, but something was not right. He could feel something aching on his back and he tried to rub at it. It felt as if someone had poured a molten hot marble down the back of his shirt and it burned on his back more and more. It was extremely painful and he bit his lip to prevent him from screaming out and waking up the neighbors. He had to reach that strange burning liquid that was oozing on his back. His mind envisioned a gel or ooze that had been stuck there, still in liquid form sucking the very life out of his body. He ripped off his shirt at that point and was no longer sleeping in this girl’s bed. He reached his hand to reach it but it was perfectly placed in a position he could not reach. He fell to the ground and began to roll around as tears rolled down his cheeks. As he rubbed his back on the floor the ooze spread, although he could not see it, he could feel it moving across his back like pancake batter. He stood up then and tried to get it off with a blanket, but his arms were slowly burning away at the elbows and he was slowly being lifted up towards the ceiling. He could not cry out yet he wanted to as his body touched the ceiling. Slowly, steadily the ooze trickled over his back and over his arms; the pain was so intense he long felt anything else. It crawled up his neck and eventually fell across his face and into his eyes and mouth. He passed out due from extreme pain and as he did the ooze took him away from this world to a place that he was not expecting…
“Today in the news a young boy went missing, and his clothes were found in the house of Jim and Karen Vansen. Their daughter, Kelly, reported finding strange clothes in her bedroom upon returning from a camping trip in the boundary waters. They were traced back the young boy and investigators have been looking feverishly for him…”
“After searching through the home of the missing ‘Teh-For’ many researchers found mysterious notes and other documents talking about a strange and mysterious world…”
“November 1st, 2007. The mysterious being, known to the world as Teh-For has been missing for nearly two months now, and has been officially reported as deceased in till found… the funeral will begin at….”
* * *
Chapter two
A strange dull noise of dripping water could be heard as it echoed throughout a massive cavern. The body of a half naked boy was sprawled between layers of jet black rocks that shimmered against the dull light of the blue fungi that dwelled there. The dull ambient noises of the cavern were obscure enough to drive anyone insane, as the twisting and winding pathway lead somewhere unknown and mysterious. Teh-For, stirred, thinking of nothing, feeling nothing as his eyes slowly came open. They stared for the longest time at the pitch black ceiling. If it weren’t for the strange blue light of the mushrooms and various mosses, he would have thought that it did not work. He shifted his weight for a moment, testing his body, hoping that it was broken or deformed in anyway. A few black rocks that he was lying on stuck to his back as he slowly lifted himself onto his hands. The sitting position made him feel sick, but he had to get over it eventually. He had never really thought that this world wasn’t meant for humans, but he could breathe the air, and all seemed well.
The boy tried to stand up a few times, only to sit back down irritably. He never knew that getting here would have been so taxing on his body, not to mention the automatically repressed pain that he had to endure in order to complete it. Clearly the portal was not very clean, which meant that this world was unstable in some fashion. That was the conclusion that Teh-For had come to, but he was still uncertain as to how much time had really passed. In reality, it had been two months already, and he was dead to one world. The noise of the water and the semi-darkness of the cave were Teh-For’s motivations for getting out of here and into the next area where supposedly, the golden city awaited him. He doubted it though…there was no way that such a magnificent place was anywhere around here… this place was different a farce a trap. Teh-For eventually came to crawling and sliding across the rock bottom of the cavern floor, and eventually found what appeared to be the exit. What he saw while laying on his bare chest did not surprise him, but it was an awesome sight nonetheless.
In front of him was a city indeed, with gray ashen walls, with each building inside of its perimeter similar in color. It was down a nearby hill that was littered with bones of deceased individuals. The city itself appeared to be a spider web of alleyways and various sectors, and was actually more inhabited than the city of gold in which Teh-For had dreamed of. The sky was black, instead of blue yet it wasn’t dark. There was a bright white orb that sat unmoving high in the sky, although it felt as if he were still in a cavern, not in an outside world. He could see that all around him were high towering cliffs, and the realization came that he was in a very small world that lacked various properties a complex world might have. To the north was a massive building, it was even larger to the city, which was bigger than the town that Teh-For had grown up in. Behind him, supposedly west, was a towering cliff with about nine or so large cave entrances that were etched in the side of the caves. He looked south and saw a small desert and swamp stretch out before the southern most cliffs appeared, and then as he scanned eastward he could see a hilly forest black and disgusting in nature. He was surrounded, like a rat trapped in a cage. A perfect example indeed—his dream was the cheese that might lead him to the trap, and the bedroom had been the collectors box. He managed to stand up, but he didn’t feel any temperature about. He should be cold, but he wasn’t, he wasn’t cold, warm, and hot, cool he just was, and a tension rose in his stomach and this world was beginning to become a mistake and fast. First step, he would have to clear his mind and get to that city-- that is the starting point. He managed to walk down the skeletal hill and he reached the west gate.
As he approached the gate he was confronted by something that emerged from behind the steel bars. He was awed by its appearance, which was mostly naked, yet it wasn’t human at all. Its skin was a pale pink color and it had long arms that extended down from its broad shoulders. A massive head rested peacefully on the shoulders, and two eyes, much like a whale, stared at Teh-For with utmost interest. It didn’t appear to have a mouth and that is why Teh-For was surprised when he could hear it speak, inside of his mind.
“Welcome human child…to the grand city of Eljar… of course, this entire world is known as Eljar, and because there is only one city here, it really is the only name we can give to it…” the thing was polite, and well mannered and apparently wise. These are the traits Teh-For picked up immediately…finally his mind was getting back on track. “So you can understand me?” Teh-For asked and the creature laughed. “The way you said that is quite interesting, as if you were calculating, testing… hm. Let me explain to you the rules of this place… of this wretched hell…” the creature said expanding his arms out as if to embrace the entire world.
“This entire world, as I have said before, this is Eljar. It really isn’t a world, more of a prison…of course a normal person like you would expect that we are the prisoners, yet our jailors are the true prisoners and that is why we are here… this world is governed by one force, and one force alone: the power of the half gods. There are nine half gods that inhabit this world, and indeed they are not the happiest of beings…you might wonder what a half god is, no? They were once beings of great power that walked the heavens alongside the gods, but for some reason unknown to us mortals, they were banished to a half world forever sealed in this demented place with nothing better to do than to quarrel with each other. However, the plan of having the gods kill themselves did not work out, instead they fell into a strict hierarchy, and they began to extend their power outward from this distant world. Yet because it was small and easy to control, it was no problem at all for the half gods to extend their power to other planes of existence. Much like the Earth you came from young human…”
Teh-For listened intently, and he was willing to believe this unbelievable story mostly because it made sense to his own demented thoughts. There were nine half gods here, and this strange creature knew about Earth. There many other pressing questions, but seeing that this world seemed less bent on survival, he would have plenty of time to ask this creature about various questions. “There too much for a young human like you to obtain in just one day, so I will take you into the city… ha! Yes of course we must be acquainted first… you may call me Edgar, it is a human name… but my real name can not be spoken…” Teh-For nodded, “Very well Edgar, I am Teh-For…now tell me what you are.” He asked and the thing stopped for a moment. “You are quite a touchy fellow, but there is a reason they choose you to come here… Teh-For…such an odd name, but still…I am an Eljarian, my people are the plane-shifters, but you will learn more later when you have the time, come into the city… no more time for words…”
The Eljarian lead Teh-For from the city gates and into the gray city itself. The houses and complexes were mainly built of stone, and it lacked any form of glass or more modern day structures, implying that this world was less technologically advanced. He could understand why of course, the half gods were the rulers of this world, and they could make things the way they saw fit. He supposed that the guardians brought him here because they wanted to test his intelligence, and besides the fact that he had hidden it so well they were able to see right through that. Clearly, there must be some sort of test they would put him through, and he was curious as to what it is. The two of them walked down the main street, and the boy couldn’t help but notice other strange people walking around. There were a few more Eljarians, tall and pale in color as well. There were a few of the scaly winged people, who’s former glow no longer shined as it once did in the city of gold. Their sightless eyes seemed to peer at him once and a while as the tall Eljarian lead him down the road. The stopped after walking a few blocks from the western gate and the Eljarian turned to face Teh-For as the stood in front of a shabby looking hut.
“I want you to meet Troy, I think you might be able to understand him, I think he is from your world… the tall being walked into the shabby looking house as Teh-For stayed outside looking at all of the people walking about. They didn’t seem to be doing anything except that they were all depressed and down. ‘I though I was tricked, I think I might have a way of getting out of here…’ Teh-For thought to himself as he sat down on the gray soil that blanketed the city and it’s buildings. There was something odd about the southern side of the town that had caught his eye—a set of towers were set up with a high wall that was too close to be the southern wall… there were sentries and guards who were patrolling the walls, and the boy could see men stationed in the tower. Perhaps there was some sort of division inside of the city?
“Ah, master Troy is not home, this is quite bothersome…” the Eljarian reported returning from his raid of the human’s home. Teh-For stood up, expecting to be taken somewhere else when a strange wailing sound was heard. He turned to the east, down the road and he could see a man running towards them. He was screaming and looking behind him quickly and his expression was that of terror and utmost fear. Teh-For was instantly curious as he came closer and closer to them. Then he saw what the man was running from, a two headed statue of a peculiar design was floating a few feet above the ground chasing him. One of the heads was embedded in the stone chest of second head, which stood at the top. It was clearly a female statue, seeing the protruded breasts that were engraved into the body of the creature. It had four arms and sightless black eyes. Eventually it caught up to the fleeing man and placed one of it’s hands on the man’s head. The man slowly stopped resisting and a loud and wretched scream escaped his lips as a barely visible aura came from the top of his head and into the stone fingers of the statue. There was a long pause and when the process was over the statue slowly floated back to wherever it had come from.
“Ah…poor human…poor Troy…” Edgar said shaking his large head sorrowfully. “What was that thing…?” Teh-For asked curious as to what sort of business had just occurred. “Unji, the half goddess of luck… she placed her shrine here in the heart of the city…of course the real half goddess most likely lives inside of the grand temple, but that is one manifestation of her I am certain. The half gods create such things to act as soul collectors. They bring prosperous individuals from a variety of worlds, and then they challenge them to various games to see if they can win. If they manage to win at the gods crazy games, they are free to go wherever they please. Of course the games are nearly impossible, but there is one exception: Unji’s challenge. It is purely based on luck. However, the stakes are so high that nobody dares challenge Unji outright. Death is a more welcome thing than loosing your soul to the stone soul collector…ah poor Troy, poor troy…” Edgar seemed quite upset at the fact that the challenge had been taken by Troy, but Teh-For had a feeling that he would someday be there challenging the goddess of luck at whatever game it was. Certainly the gods would expect him to take some form of the intelligence challenge, but he knew that they would make it impossible for him to win, instead he would have to win by luck, and when he did…he was curious.
“Has Unji ever lost before?” he asked and Edgar stopped to think for a moment. Then he shook his head. “About a hundred people have played her in that ridiculous game, and each and everyone of them had their souls removed… and each and everyone one of them were humans…” these was extremely interesting for Teh-For, and a rare smile crossed his face. ‘Unji…we shall cross paths soon enough…’
“Well, the house is yours, for Master Troy will not need it anymore…” Edgar said slowly turning away to leave. “I will come back later…I am sure you will figure much out on your own small human…” The Eljarian lumbered off down an alleyway heading northward. Teh-For looked over the small house and found that there was a bed shoved up against the eastern window, the sheets were dull and tattered. His eyes followed the back wall and saw various cupboards which were half open and there was no indication that anyone had lived here at all. He was self aware that the needs to survive were much reduced. One’s sanity became almost as important as one’s ability to draw breath… hungry and thirst was not apparent in this world. Teh-For guessed that nine half gods could easily have fused their power and make a more stable world, one more enjoyable for them, but he guessed that there was some internal conflict that prevent them from bonding together… they might have a leader, but they would not work as one being. They tortured other people for their own merriment, a fair break in their games, and if someone managed to beat them they might even find peace, or drift into another hell… perhaps they were trying to gain the attention of the gods who had cast them into this hell in the first place. He found a soft rug and found that it was damp in some areas, yet he had come to find that this world also lacked any form of insect or animal… this world was purely dedicated to keeping the sentient beings alive, which meant that the half gods had strange constrictions on their powers. This gave Teh-For a reason to believe that he could win, but he would study Unji later, there was something else he had to do… he had to grasp the laws and rules of this world first, learn about the various people. There was something that this place lacked that even Earth had a little of: unity. There were at least three or four different races here in this city, but Teh-For guessed that there were even more, but he knew that he would have to observe each race carefully before even attempting to speak to them. He figured that the Eljarian didn’t know his human tongue, and wondered if the half gods made some power to make the races to understand each other… yet this was a theory he would have to test out at a later time. While sitting on the rug he stared out of the wooden doorframe and looked at the two towers that were guarding something… perhaps a sector of people? He could not be certain but he had already formed a list of questions to ask Edgar the next time to they crossed paths.
He reflected for a few minutes, but his intelligence cut in. ‘I can not think of how or why I am here, such it is a mistake of human thought, I must concentrate on how I am going to get out of here… preferably, I am going to manipulate the people in order to defeat the guardians, or at least one in order to gain passage out of here… there is a risk that if one of the guardians fall the entire world would collapse, but I highly doubt that they would risk defeat on a single member, after all they follow easy to understand patterns, it is their motives that I find difficult to comprehend… but being such an abstract thinker can help me.’
He had to learn about the people he could control before he could strategize on how to defeat the immortal half gods. Yes, the basic idea seemed to make sense and knowing a first step and aid him in calming the despair of challenging such a fierce opponent, not to mention his first…
Then he slumped backwards falling unconscious.
* * *
Teh-For’s life had ended. On Earth that is… for his gravestone was another addition to the Oakwild City Graveyard, and yet he kept having a strange and frequent visitor. She had no idea who Teh-For was, besides the fact that he had gone to her school, had snuck into her house and slept in her bed. Kelly Vansen had visited the grave of Teh-For ever since his funeral as if to find the answer… she had exclusive rights to his strange map that he had drawn as well as his mysterious journal. The only mention of her name was on the map… “Kelly Vansen’s bed…”
Why her bed? Where the hell did he go? She hadn’t slept well in her bed ever since he… and in fact had been sleeping on the couch ever since. She began to have weird dreams about the boy she never really knew and wondered what sort of demented thoughts he might have had about her his entire life. A week after his death she kept saying to herself that she hated him and that he had ruined her life for no reason… yet there was no other way to explain it…she actually believed that he had gone to another world instead of going insane and cleverly hiding his body so that the police would never find him. Like he incinerated his body or some strange thing like that. Having read his journal, Kelly was surprised at the ignorance of the police and investigators on the case. “His prediction was correct… ‘when I am gone, they will think that I am dead… they will, like typical humans, think of some strange scientific explanation as to why I have died, then years later I will appear on some TV channel that will only regurgitate facts that have already been written down.’ I can’t wait for that show to come out…what on earth am I saying…?” she had been depressed, her features remained the same however.
Long brown hair, elegant blowing in the wind and yet her frequent visits to Teh-For’s grave gave her a bad look in the eyes of those who used to know her. She was free from high school of course, and she had vented her thoughts to Laura, who was going off to Arizona for some cheerleading thing and now she was alone, thinking about this stupid event that had to happen in her home! Yet some of her dreams were beginning to show her the world that Teh-For had described… the golden city, the glowing mushrooms and the strange angelic draconic people as he had called him. She was scared; inside she felt that something bad would happen to her… that she would be swept off to the world Teh-For had supposedly gone to-- afraid that a being from that world would come and take her away. She stood up, the day was cloudy, and November was brisk and cold… she was garbed in a black garment, as if to mourn his passing…
She left the grave site and returned home.
* * *
Time had no passage in this world, as Teh-For come to realize that the white orb suspended in the sky never moved. He once more began to think of a way to escape this world, and then Edgar came lumbering into his lodgings, it was a bit disheartening because Teh-For wanted more time to himself, but he still had many questions to ask the Eljarian nonetheless.
“I see you have done much thinking young human, you are not as mad-driven as I would have thought…” the low rumbling voice came and Teh-For nodded, “Explain to me how the languages are connected…” he asked first still staring past Edgar and at the towers that had entranced him ever since he had come to this world. “Hm… the gods are proving our weakness… despite being trapped in this same demented world we still come to separate ourselves from each other… we mark those different from us as lower beings…” the Eljarian replied and Teh-For turned to the tall pale creature. “You do not speak of yourself Edgar…” this remark caused the Eljarian to stare at the floor as if he were pondering something. “You…understand don’t you… the need to work together?” the way the Eljarian said it made Teh-For feel a bit unnerved, there must have been so many stupid humans who have come along and ruined perfect opportunities. “A problem as many solutions, and I can see how using as many people as possible could be beneficial.” This was not quite the answer Edgar was looking for, but he decided to stay on this young human’s good side and let it be.
“More importantly Edgar, I am in need of assistance, after all… I need to know every angle before I can win…” the Eljarian seemed puzzled by this attitude, and reflected upon it with a slow yet firm voice. “Listen, young human, this isn’t a game of chess or some other sort of game, this is a gamble between life and lifeless, although no one is sure… but if you loose your soul you will never go anywhere every again. I don’t want you to gamble away your precious soul, dying is one thing, but this…”
Teh-For was expected some form of warning and he had already prepared an answer for it. “I am different, I don’t loose, and I am a professional Edgar, if I can not win, than nobody can. There is not much to think about really, I want to know is everything there is to know about this place…” this did not ease Edgar’s thoughts in the least. “Well I guess I have no power to stop you, we Eljarians are peaceful creatures after all… what is it you want to know?” even though Teh-For had said he wanted to know everything, there had to be a place to start, a logical sequence in which knowledge was obtained.
“Tell me about every race here in the city and how they contribute and act…I will sit and listen…”
“Well young human, there are about nine or so races that inhabit this strange demented world. The first, and most populace are the humans… they cultivate eight of the cities nine sectors and get along with almost everyone, with their own agenda of course. Most of the humans who come here are either thoughtlessly strong, or weak, anti-social geniuses, I suppose you fall under one of those categories. They generally die most often, whether or not this is because they are the most populous… or if it is their ability to make foolish mistakes… I do not know. The second race is the Eljarian, like me. We are the fewest in number, and we generally stick to ourselves and to maybe a few humans here and there… we generally are wise and docile, and we do nothing but watch as the other races come and go within this timeless realm. We are the deep thinkers, recorders and philosophers of this realm. The next race is that of the espers, who number in almost as few as Eljarians… they are the angelic creatures who are golden and scaly, yet they are quiet and reserved. I have never really seen one talk before, but their radiance is a welcome addition to this dismal world. Their origins remain a secret, even to me… ahem. The next race is a sort of orcish race; they are brutish and very loud but strong and dumb. They were the ones who charged into the temple demanding retribution from the gods and they were all destroyed on the spot. From that day on they have sat in their huts scared to show themselves around the city, although a few humans have tried to befriend them, the language barrier is so ridiculous that it is no use. The next race is a smaller type of orc I suppose, they are keen thinkers, and very clever, but their superstition is their weakness. After seeing their larger brothers get destroyed in the grand temple these tiny goblins have stayed in their villas as well, and because they only speak to orcs it is hard for us to make use of their clever crafting skills… ah, sorry my anger can be aroused so easily while discussing our history. Ahem, anyway, the next race is quite an enigma to me… the mysterious shader-kai of the distant planes… I have heard that they are much like elves in nature, surely you have heard of an elf before… they live underneath the city, for they prefer the shadows that remind them of their home rather than that fake moon or sun that sits perpetually above us. They share their underground domain with the beings known as the draconic, which are much like espers, except they are more like dragons hmph. I have never really met a draconic seeing that my poor eyesight does not fair well in the darkened caverns, but I have heard they are smart and strong, and don’t really mind where they are as long as they are…what am I saying, oh well… let me continue young human it is hard to stay focused sometimes… ah yes the eighth race I believe… they are the sirens, who don’t actually live in the city very often, they inhabit the forest to the south and east…some call them dryads, and others call them woodland beings, but they are indeed magical creatures who only appear when they wish to appear. Now, I haven’t forgotten to observe you young Teh-For, I have watched where you eyes fall…” Edgar paused in his long retelling of the races and Teh-For seemed distraught, there was one more, and yes one more that was the pinnacle of his curiousity, yet Edgar had paused.
“Tell me, Edgar, who lies behind those towers! The fortress in the city… I must know it is my destiny.” The Eljarian was displeased by this human’s tone yet he was also curious, this person seemed absolutely insane, like if one were to do something normal he would despise it to no end. A feeling of curiosity mixed with a shred of doubt and fear came to the Eljarian for the first time in four centuries. “Very well, it isn’t that momentous… the race known as the fey live in that heavily guarded fortress, and the reason I am so adamant about it is because we tried to negotiate with them when we first arrived here, and they killed most of us off… they are our enemies, Teh-For. They are mix of eledrin warriors, outcast from their own worlds…those who possess immense magical aptitude. I fear that they came here not by the will of the gods, but the will of themselves. They are plotting to put an end to this world and move onto a more stable one so that they may conquer the world, do not think you can manipulate them! You are still just a small human, and they will des