Upon arriving at the apartment, Juan, as Jonathan, and Philip saw Silene and Maurizio making Alexia float like a feather across the room. She was unconscious, though.
"Stop now, filthy viper!" The old wizard screamed energetically.
"So, you've managed to escape my friends?" The woman spoke with irony.
"Drop her and go back to your world, hag," Philip ordered angrily.
"Maurizio, will you let them talk to me like that? Finish them off now!"
Juan threw the sword to Philip, who grabbed it in the air and then hit Maurizio on the side, just like he had learned from his human father's guard captain. The warlock fell on the ground. When Philip pierced the sword in the Basnet's heart, he turned into dust, and then was carried away by the breeze.
"Why do I have to do everything on my own?" Said Silene as she laid Alexia on the sofa.
When she started walking towards them, Juan opened an abyss between them. Silene was caught by surprise, so when she took the next step, she fell in the depths. She screamed as she looked up at the light that she would probably never see again.
"Schließe das Loch für immer!" Philip commanded the abyss to close for eternity speaking the magical words in German.
Alexia woke up.
"What happened?" She asked. "Why are you both looking at me like that? And where are the firefighters?"
"I'll explain later. Now we need to leave. Pack up your things, sweetie. We'll be in great danger if we stay here," said Juan, now speaking as Alexia's grandfather, and at the same time looking after Philip. "You must do the same, son. Go to the hostel and get your things. We need to catch the next train. I choose to travel by train because Alexia is afraid of flying since she was a child."
"Where are we heading, Juan?" Philip asked. "And why don't we open a portal and get there right away?"
"Did you say Juan?" Alexia was taken by surprise when she heard Philip calling her grandfather by another name.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you everything on the way," the old man said, worried about what could happen to them if they didn't leave immediately.
"I'll meet you at the train station, then" Philip said, and then he kissed Alexia.
She kissed him back, but then said quite angrily: "Wait a minute. I can't just give up my life here and go with you two. First, where exactly are we traveling to?"
"I thought of London. It is a big city and we can hide there. I believe that Klaus will soon arrive, since he must have gotten more powerful over the years." Apparently, Juan had already planned the escape. He looked at the young man and said, "I prefer not to create portals. Otherwise, we'll surely be spotted by magical creatures. I'm not sure, but I think our biggest enemy may already be quite near."
Juan wanted to spare the lives of those he loved with all his powers.
"The monks said that Klaus stole a book that teaches how to connect to the dead. The valuable object had been kept by the monks' ancestors for a long time, but now it's been generations since Klaus stole it from their temple. Since then, the monks have been trying to retrieve the book in order to keep humanity safe again," Philip said with concern.
"That explains the presence of the Basnet warlocks at the alley. Spirits can travel through time and space. Klaus must be summoning many dead Basnet warlocks by giving them back their power. This way, they're going to pave the way for Klaus' return."
"Please! Can you explain to me what's going on? It seems that you have both forgotten that I'm here."
Although the danger was just a heartbeat away, they owed Alexia some explanation. Besides, they needed to convince her about the urgency to flee, especially now that Juan had appeared in his original identity.
He had to calm down the young woman, so he said, "A very powerful wizard is coming after Philip and he won't spare you. I'm here to protect you both. I've taken over your grandfather's place when he left this world. It was a way to look after you."
"Are you saying that my grandfather died? When did it happen?" Alexia's eyes filled with tears. She could not believe that the man before her was not Jonathan, even though he looked very much like him.
Then she realized that the one who had always been a father to her might have not always been there for her after all.
"Wait a second, Juan! I don't understand it either...," said Philip. "How can you be here if I saw you being killed by Klaus?"
"It's complicated... But I can explain everything. When I was assigned to protect you, my life made sense again. I had been living depressed for many years since I lost my family." Juan looked at Philip. "It was Elheonora, your mother, who asked me to look after you."
"But I saw you dying!"
"At the time Klaus made me his prisoner in the Castle of the Absents, he forced me to make him immortal by using a spell from the Book of Souls."
"I know all about it... Being immortal was Klaus' greatest wish," said Philip.
"Somehow the spell worked on me as well during the ritual of immortality. Right after I made Klaus immortal, I felt a strange energy inside me. And then, during that fateful battle when I sent you to the future using my last resource of strength, after Klaus had stuck the staff on my chest, I was left abandoned in the castle, because he thought I was dead. However, I woke up as soon as he went away, took the staff out and then healed the wound with magic. That's why I'm still alive."
"Impressive!" said Philip.
"I knew the Book of Souls' spells by heart, even though it had merged with you, Philip. When Verena was killed, her spirit wandered in the spiritual world. She was looking for a path. Since she had always been an enlightened woman with a generous heart, I managed to enter the world of spirits and rescue her. Then I created again a time portal and traveled to the future, 25 years before your arrival. I had seen in the waters of my cauldron a woman about to give birth to a baby girl. When the baby was born and she was returning from the hospital with her husband and the child, they suffered a terrible accident. The car they were in was rammed by another car, driven by a young man who was engaged in a street racing on an avenue here in Florence. The car Alexia was in exploded. Jonathan, her grandfather, was also in the car, so he died there with her granddaughter and her parents. When I saw that, I had no doubt that that was the opportunity to give Verena a second chance by making her be reborn at that moment. She deserved it..."
"So, I'm not who I think I am? Who is Verena?"
"In time you'll understand everything, my dear..." Juan said to Verena. Then, he turned to Philip and said, "I knew that you would have to face Klaus again one day. So, I needed to make sure that you would have a balanced life. You and Verena are twin flames, which means that you need one another to live happily. I had had my share of suffering from depression and guilt for the terrible loss of those I loved. I couldn't let you carry the same burden. Especially now, that the Phantom Man needs to be emotionally strong to face his greatest enemy."
Juan held out his hand and an image appeared in the air. It showed him entering the fire produced by the car's explosion. Philip and Verena saw the wizard's face, a bearded old man with white hair. Inside the fire, he kneeled before the inert bodies of the grandfather, the mother, the father, and the baby, all gone. Then he uttered magical words in German that summoned the spirit of light by his side to be born again in the baby's body.
"Geist des Lichts an meiner Seite. Wiedergeboren in diesem Körper!"
He was sad to see the whole family dead. The mother carried the newborn baby girl on her lap. Her husband and the baby's grandfather were by her side. They were all walking towards a light. Someone wearing a white gown came to take them. Later, Juan transformed into Jonathan, Alexia's grandfather. He looked at the child's face and saw a small scar on it.
At that moment, the lawyer understood what had happened. Juan and Alexia embraced each other in tears. Philip watched them. Now that he knew the whole story, he understood his mentor's explanation.
"The mother wanted to name the baby 'Alexia'," said Juan.
"I've always loved my name. I'm also very grateful for the education I received from you," said Alexia.
"It was a pleasure, my sweet girl. I've always considered you and Philip my children."
"So, I'm actually Verena, Philip's girlfriend. And you have brought me into this world. This explains the strange dreams I've always had over the years," said Alexia.
Philip's eyes were filled with tears at seeing how much love the old man had for them both. He wanted to thank his mentor for everything.
"Master, I am grateful for all the good things in my life. I felt guilty for not being able to save my beloved. But you have managed to fix all my mistakes."
"It was not your fault, son. You were too young, then. Plus, your training was not complete yet, and you already had to face powerful enemies. There is no merit in victory alone. A person's selflessness and good character counts much more in life than victory itself."
"He's right Phil... Selflessness and a good character are the things that makes us want to be close to someone. And when this person for some reason is away or no longer with us, that's the very reason why we miss them so deeply."
"I have to say that you can also do the immortality spell and live forever if you wish so," Juan said.
"Juan, I find it very frustrating to see the people we love die while we keep on living," Philip answered. "But I do have one more question: how did you know where I was?"
"Actually, I didn't know at first where I had sent you to. I had to perform a spell using the waters in my caldron to spot the place you had arrived in. I've never stopped looking after you, as I promised your mother. As to Alexia, I raised her as my daughter. However, when you were arrested, I let our lawyer here handle the matter, which she did very professionally. Meanwhile, I was on watch and ready to intervene at any moment, as I did."
"I want to know more about the whole story," Alexia said, curious.
"We'll have plenty of time to do so on the train. But now we're in great danger, so we have to leave. Don't worry about the exam you were studying for, or your career. As long as you are alive, you can always have your career back." Juan said confidently.
"How did you read my thoughts?"
"You'll be very surprised by Juan's powers, Alex. He's extraordinary."
"You can also develop the ability to read minds, Philip. It requires some training, of course..."
"Sure! I'd like to apologize for not accepting the monks' offer to train me in self-defense. My foolish confidence made me put the lives of others at risk. I need to be humbler and accept that there's always something to be learned and to be practiced as well. This much I have learned."
"Wisdom consists of recognizing our mistakes. You are getting wiser, Philip..." Juan said.
Alexia looked at the two men as they talked. She wasn't sure if she saw Juan as Jonathan or as her boyfriend's newly revealed master.
"What a crazy story! According to what you said, I used to be Verena in another life, is that right?" she asked.
"She... You... Are the woman I've always loved. It really hurt me when I lost Verena. I still blame myself for what happened to you because you were used as bait to catch me and Juan."
"Was I a princess?"
"No! You were the most beautiful commoner in the whole kingdom. And you still are," Philip said, looking into her shinning eyes. "I've never given much value for royalty traditions. People's true inner is what interests me. A person's character is eternal. Even though so much have changed since then, a title of nobility is nothing compared to the pleasure of being with you. I'm still the same Philip, a human being like everyone else. All I want is to love you for the rest of my life."
"In that case, I want to be myself too."
They smiled at each other.
"I have to go now..." Philip said goodbye, then opened a portal and disappeared through it.
Juan was right... They had to act fast. Meanwhile, the battle in the alley continued. The surviving warlocks turned into shadows that slipped through the damp ground. The remaining monks knew that something big was about to happen.
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Read #ThePhantomMan book 1 by #ChaieneSantos
EUROPE - XV Century