Chapter 24
A/N: I'm so sorry for such a late update due to writer's block :-( Anyway this is a boring but important Q&A chapter... I'll update again later this week okay?
[Day 3]
"Vi...Vicente?" Iker stuttered in fright, the man in front of him was his coach, the coach who had died in the cockpit explosion.
"I am the Wise." The immortal told them. "Not Vicente."
"But...you..." Xavi stammered, shocked at what he was seeing, "Vicente it must be you! You must have turned into a ghost after your death!"
"What you see is not what it seems." The Wise explained, "It is only an illusion. The original me is only a mass of white smoke."
"Like the white smoke surrounding the Sacred Mountain?"
"Yes, they are the Guardians of the mountain, and I'm one of them. The differences of me and them are that I live deep inside the mountain and I'm wiser."
"Is that you who saved us from that horrible creature?" Fernando asked curiously.
"That horrible creature? Oh... You mean the catwolf? Yes it was me. I made it disappear with my magic power."
"Catwolf? Your magic power?" The Spaniards asked simultaneously, confused at what the Wise had said.
"Catwolves are a type of special animals in Ietania, they always appear on the mountain and they attack creatures they never met. You guys are humans, right?" The Wise asked for approval.
"We're the human beings from the Spanish National Football Team, which you know it already I guess," Cesc shrugged, "Yeah... You're the Wise, you should know everything."
"Don't overestimate me kid!" The Wise shook his head dramtically, "Although I almost know everything, I still have to learn."
"Are you really a ghost? Or an immortal?"
"Neither. I'm the only a lifeform which is made of gas. You can't touch me, you can't feel me, but you can still hear me and barely see me. Also, I am mortal. The approximate time of my life is 34610572 years, I had passed through 34610277 years already, so I knowledged a lot of things during my lifetime. I have my lethal weaknesses. Actually there are lots of interesting creatures living in Ietania. Unfortunately, I couldn't take you for a trip around the planet cuz our time is limited." The Wise sighed disappointingly, "By the way, King Skull offered me to solve your problems. Can you tell me?"
"I thought you know that."
"Skull didn't tell me."
"Wait, you work for him?" Gerard was shocked. Everyone in the team hated the Axuklian King. It would be unacceptable if the Wise worked for him.
"Not really, I just know him. But I know his father well. I'll tell you about his father later. So now, tell me about your problems."
"Um...we kinda sort of...having trouble on finding the Axuko Crystal?" Sergio stammered, which his words came out like a sentence.
"We don't even know where it is!" Andres added.
"The Axuko Crystal? I see. Do you know that it once landed on Earth and it somehow disappeared?"
"It landed on...Earth before!?"
"Yeah... It was the core of an asteroid, or the sacred fire, according to the Bible had said, that struck Sodom and Gomorrah."
"It struck Earth before? So that means it's on Earth?"
"No, it was sent to the universe again by a mysterious force."
"What mysterious force?"
"I don't know. No one knows, except the one who had created the force. However, I don't know who was it."
"Ugh...This should be important."
"Also, the Axuko Crystal isn't its real name, it's named by Epimetheus. However..."
"You don't know its real name."
"Yes... Only Epimetheus and the one who sent the Axuko crystal back knew. They are all dead unfortunately."
"Urgh!"
"I told you there are things I don't know!"
"Okay, then where is the crystal?"
"I know where's the half of the crystal, but... Anyway, it's inside the Box of Pandora. If you want to unlock the box, you must have a key, which 17% of the entire crystal is embedded onto."
"Where's the box then?"
"I don't know, but I know the key holder. His name is Solemn, the King of the planet Claudon. Maybe he knows where the box is."
"So our next destination is Claudon. I hope Goter is still waiting for us in Oreo."
"Wait, are you sure you wanna go? I warn you, it's a dangerous trip."
"Yes. This is the only way to save Earth."
"Well then, you have to trust me."
"But I don't get it. How will you help us?"
"I will guide your way to Arcadia Palace--Claudon's castle. There you will find Solemn."
"Will you help us until we save our planet?"
"I don't think I can't, since I'm a Guardian of the Mountain, as I have told you before, I must return to the Sacred Mountain after I have left Ietania for 7 days. That means I can only help you in Claudon for a week."
"That's disappointing..."
"I'm sorry to say that. Anyway, if you want my help, simply shake this lamp," the Wise took out a small mantle lamp from nowhere. It was shaped like a teapot, and was filled with ancient Egyptian carvings over the golden container. It looked similar to the magical lamp in Aladdin, in addition.
"When there is light, there will always be a shadow." The Wise continued his speech, "There will be lots of enemies lurking throughout our whole journey. Therefore, you must get some weapons. I'll prepare the weapons to you tomorrow. To elect the weapons, each of you must take a quest."
"Weapons? What weapons?"
"You'll see tomorrow. You may sleep on the second floor of the cave tonight. I have four mattresses, originally five but one of them was torn by the catwolf."
Iker, Sergio and Fernando winked at each other at the same time and grimaced.
"Good luck for tomorrow's quest. I'll see you guys next morning."
A/N: Btw, TODAY IS SERGIO'S BIRTHDAY (*fangirls)! I laughed so hard at the video <3 Feliz cumpleaños Sese!