The Beginning

Now that you have found this please don't put it down. Why do you ask because it is my hope that what you read will change your life. This isn't just my story it's so much more. I grew up believing anything is possible and that just because something can't be done doesn't mean it's not impossible. It just means we haven't reached the point where it can be done yet.

 My name is Andrew Starlight. Yeah yeah, I know Starlight weird last name. Well, it's more that it's a fake last name. Sorry, but I can't tell you my real last name. That's something I only tell those I truly trust. However, most just call me by my nickname, Grim. There is a good story to go with that nickname. However, I think I should tell you the parts leading up to that story first though.

 Everything changed for me late one spring. I was 15 getting ready to turn 16. My parents told me that if I worked hard, they would help me get a car for my sixteenth birthday. So, on that note I was out the door, and I went job hunting. You know it's almost impossible to get a job at 15, nobody would hire me. There were too many don'ts and not enough do's. So, I did the only thing I could, I went door to door asking people if I could mow their grass or if there was anything to do, whatever I could for a price. I lost track of the number of houses and individuals that told me no. It wasn't until I was almost back to my house that I found someone to take me up on my offer. He lived about two blocks from me. It was an older house, like it was built long, long ago, it had that old Gothic look to it. You know the high pointed roof with nicely designed stone columns on the porch, it looked like it was built in the 1600s or something. The front door still had one of those old-school door knockers with the lion holding the knocker in its mouth. It made me think that I was seeing the house version of the Church of Notre Dame de Louviers. Most everyone said he was a little out there but at this point, I didn't care, I walked up to the door of his house grabbed the knocker, and went at it. I heard from inside "Just a moment." Then the door opened, and an older gentleman opened the door. He was about 5'10 wearing a fleece shirt with a pair of blue jeans. He was old but I got that extremely wise feeling about him, almost like I was meeting Gandalf the Grey. (For those of you who don't know who that is, it's the wizard from The Lord of The Rings. Gandalf is pretty cool and met him a few times but that's a different story altogether.) Even though he looked withered with age he still seemed full of energy. He smelled like a wood-burning fireplace. You all know that smell, when people get their wood fireplaces going in the Winter, the smoke always smells amazing. Well, at least I think it does. He introduced himself, his name was John Anderson. As I looked into his eyes, I noticed a dancing flame within. It looked like a black flame within his dark eyes. I took it as a little odd and it made me freeze at first. "Something I can help you with young man." He said. I stammered, "Umm…..." I had to kind of shake myself to get out of it. "Yeah, I'm hoping you might be able to. I've been going around asking people if they need things done around their homes. In hopes that I can make some money to help me save up for a car before my birthday." Right after I said all of that I felt better. His stare wasn't as bad to, it was like after I told him why I was there he was more relaxed. The flame that had been in his eyes had vanished as well. It made me think that it was some kind of truth stare. Ha ha... how stupid would that be. He just looked at me up and down "Hmmm…. I might have something for you to do." Now keep in mind at 15 I wasn't exactly amazing to look at. I was only 5'11 no real muscle to speak of and you could tell inside is where I was a lot. I was a gamer back then and didn't do much besides play games. That was till my parents told me what they did to get me to look for a job. I had blonde hair, blue eyes, pale and thin. Thank god, I didn't sparkle in the sunlight cause someone might think I was a vampire that or a stripper who needed sunlight. I told him with a completely straight face "I don't care even if it is hard work." "Hmm…. We shall see." That wasn't a joke either course I didn't find that out till later. We talked at first about how much and when. What I would be doing and what I could do. Man, was there a lot, his house was something else. While we talked, I got a little tour. I felt like it was a museum. There were old swords, old bows, staves, Civil War guns and more. He had pictures of himself with famous people but it's one of those things you don't always believe. With Photoshop being a thing nowadays anyone can make them look like they were meeting someone famous. So, it's hard to tell what's real and what's fake. Some of the stuff was kind of cool. He had this sword that was in a case called Excalibur. Now was it the real one yeah right it was just a story. However, it was still cool to see something that looked like it. It was a European longsword with an engraved hilt. It looked well taken care of. There were no marks on the blade and the sheath was even taken care of as well. At least that's what it looked like. I really didn't know much about that kind of stuff back then. The plan was that I would work for him till the start of school and then we would see from there. Otherwise, it was $20 a day Monday-Friday. I talked it out with my parents so they were okay with me driving him around as well since he had a car. More so sense he was the one that came up with the idea. I worked from 7 am to 330pm doing whatever. For the first month, it was rough getting up so early. I mean come on school was out who wants to get up so early when you don't have to. Once I get their time would just fly by. There would be a list hanging on the fridge with what I needed to get done or where he needed to go. It was pretty much a to-do list. I would normally start cleaning up from last night and then go from there. We talked a lot when he had places to go. The questions he would ask or the things we talked about were always different. One day it got more different than what could be called normal. He had a doctor's visit to go to that was about an hour away. At first, it was really quiet. After about a month of being around him. I learned he was either thinking hard or he had fallen asleep. More often than not he had fallen asleep. This time he was thinking Mr. Anderson glanced at me a few times. I was sitting there thinking okay what did I do this time. Let me think here…... I locked the house, got his hat and coat, and found the car keys and the spare keys. Found his cell phone, cleaned the living room and cleaned up the dining room. So, what did I do this time? Finally, after about 20 minutes he says something. "Have you ever wondered what things would be like if magic existed?" Now like I said early in my story I've looked at things uniquely, to say the least. "Well sure I have. I mean sometimes the what if in life makes it fun. However, in reality, it is not what we wish it to be. Still, I think about it sometimes. "Why?" "No particular reason just curious is all. Trying to make conversation we do have a pretty decent trip to drive." "Hmmm…... okay. It was just surprising is all." He let out this soft little chuckle and said "Understandable just because I'm old doesn't mean I don't think about these things. If it was real how do you think it would be set up? Hold on what I mean is it all about saying it with hand movement like it says in books? Or do you think it's something else?" Hmmm for this to just be a random question or something it sounds kind of thought out. You know what I mean. But meh it's still a fun thing to talk about. So, let's go along with this and see what he says was all I could think. "Hmmm... I guess if it was real it would just depend. I always thought there were two kinds, Arcane and Elemental. They're both the same but different. Arcane bends the laws of the world to make it happen. It also makes what shouldn't be possible happen. Like the Dungeon and Dragons spell Magic Missile. That's a spell that has no element in it other than what I would call raw magic. Whereas elemental magic is asking the elements around us to create the effect. Think kind of like Avatar the Last Air Bender. Where your body motions help to control what it does, but you don't have to move to get it to do what you want. It's more based on your intent or will." He didn't say anything at first. So, I figured he was done, yeah not so much. "That's an interesting way of looking at it. It's a fairly different way of looking at it. However, it's got a good point. You know it makes me think of somewhere." Hold up pause right there so I forgot to tell you guys this. Right around the time I had been around him for about a month or more. He started telling me these stories. Now I call them stories he would tell me he was really there. He was old so I just would go along with it. You know respect your elders' type of thing. It was kind of hard though cause these stories he would tell were pretty out there. Ok now then let's resume. "It was an older land still in the medieval time. They also had magic, it was pretty much just like you said. They taught people to pay respect to the elements they felt the closest to. Now they had a little ritual maybe that they did. Once it was complete, they could do things with that element." He got this kind of faraway look in his eyes "Some of the things they could do were beautiful." Like I said he was pretty out there with these "Stories" of his. However,, it was hard to not want to know more. "So, what could they do?" With a kind of half smile that just lets you know. What he was thinking about warmed his heart. "There was this younger woman who had just hit 19. Water and air were the elements she was close to. Her name was Leearea. She could use water as a medium and travel to another location. I once saw her wear a dress that had water droplets frozen on it. It was beyond beautiful when the light would hit it. She would almost shimmer, with the lights around her. Like she was some kind of goddess walking amongst us. She could turn the air into a weapon to attack. I still remember her holding a short sword made of air during a fight she had. Then another time she made a gust of wind catch two kids that were falling out of a tree." He turned to me with this excited look in his eyes. "She told me that if you can see it in your mind you could do it. The only limitation is the one you set on yourself." That sounds like something my dad told me once. It was something like "Son don't let someone tell you that you can't do something. You are the one who sets your limitations on yourself. Just remember though, for everything you do in life, there is a price. If it's something bad, the price will be high and bad. If it's something good you should work hard to make it happen." I have never really forgotten that. As I have grown up those words were proven true so many times. If you want a good life you have to work hard and never give up. The best things in life come to those who work hard for it and make it happen. However,, if you try to cheat your way there. You never feel quite happy or satisfied. You could cheat your way to the top but once you're there who could you share that with. Opps…. Sorry got on a little rant there about one of the things I learned. However, it saved me from doing what I do now. If I hadn't remembered that I don't think I would have gotten as strong as I did. Let alone make it as far as I did. Anyway, the rest of the trip was kind of boring. I would try to talk about it more but no such luck. Now to jump ahead again 2 months had passed 3 months of working for him with only a week or two till the start of school. I was kind of excited but worried about him. Last month right towards the end of the month he got really sick. He's doing better now but still, I was worried about him. He had started telling me more of those stories of his. I loved listening to them as of late. For some reason as he told me them, I would feel like I had been there. I could see the story unfold in my mind as he told it. This month he had been making plans for the just in case things didn't turn around for him. After being around him so much for so long I kind of saw him as kind of like my grandfather. Now I know that it wasn't that long in all honesty. But for whatever reason though it didn't change my train of thought. That and I guess I was around him so much that getting to really know him. The month was almost up he had a relapse and got sick again right after the start of school. He would never tell me what was making him sick. He would just tell me that it's worth it. I knew things were really getting bad one day. I was working in the house just like normal when he called for me from his bedroom. "Andrew come here for a moment I need to talk to you." He sounded kind of weak just calling out to me like he did. "Okay John I'm coming don't waste your energy calling for me you need to rest." I told him as I headed to his room. When I got in there it was hard to look at him. The best way to describe it was that he had wasted away some. He was thinner, and more aged as well. It was like something had almost sucked the life out of him. It was hard to look at him, but it was his eyes that were still full of life. "Andrew, on my desk is a black envelope, what's inside of it, is yours." I glanced over to the corner where his desk was. There were three envelopes; a yellow, a black and a white one. As I walked over there to get it, "The yellow one is for you to keep, but you can't read it until I pass away. There is a reason for it, it has my will in it. If you have it, I know that it won't be changed, and you will get what you need and also what is yours." I wasn't sure what to say. "Why do you trust me so much? We are not family and I only worked for u for 3 almost 4 months." "You have a good heart, a quick mind and I know that you always do what is right. The entire time you worked for me you could've left, but you didn't. No matter what was asked of you." He quickly replied. Sometimes all you can do in a situation like that is "Okay I'll keep it close in case something does happen." After that, I could tell he was done. Mostly, by the fact that he had closed his eyes and had gone to sleep. If I finished up the things that I had to do around his house I would be able to leave early. Most of it was cleaning and making sure it was ready for the next day. I wasn't for sure but just before I left something felt off. I wasn't sure what, but I knew that tomorrow wasn't going to be fun.

 Man, was I spot on or what, that night I dreamed up something crazy. I was flying to something; I could see it in the distance. I tried to stop, but nothing seemed to work. I figured I was dreaming so might as well enjoy it while it lasted. As I got closer it looked like a baseball field. The fields had been turned into stands. The batter cages looked like a witness stand. The dugouts were what looked to be the judges. "What the hell is that?" I thought to myself. "Who's on that and where did I come up with this crazy idea." That's when I saw him in the stand that could have been the batter's box. Mr. Anderson was sitting there, but he looked better. Like he did when I first saw him. It was weird because some of the people in the stands were people from his stories. A guy with four arms, someone who looked just like a dwarf, beard and all. Elves, dragon men, some that looked like fish. They were all here. It was so loud too, so many people talking. There were different languages, and different voices some real high others really low. Then that judge-looking person stood up and there was silence. One of them on the left stepped forward. There was a flash of light and he was next to Mr. Anderson floating in the air. Then this judge spoke, and it was like he was right next to me when he did. Yes, it was the same judge that stepped down that spoke don't ask me how I knew cause I'm not sure how I knew. I just know that I did. He said "You have broken one of our biggest laws. You don't pass your gift on to another. It must return to the cycle so that it may be made a new." Before the judge could continue Mr. Anderson spoke up "Ha ha…. This is a joke this was never a law. It must be another one of those laws you made that is slowly killing off our numbers." Before he could say anymore there was this slit in the air behind him. It looked like someone made a cut in mid-air. "For your crime, you shall be banished to the Prison Realm." The judge said much louder than before. Obviously trying to stop him from saying anything more. As the slit in the air moved forward Mr. Anderson called out "What you do now will be found out. And when it is that person will make sure you pay. They will fix what you have broken and restore the balance." The second before it closed, he looked right at me and smiled. Like he was happy and knew something they didn't. He started laughing that was the last thing I heard before it closed around him. Once it closed there was silence "Let this be a lesson to you all." The judge said as he glanced through the crowd. Right as he looked in my direction a really big Dragon-man stood up in front of me. Dragon-men look like a cross between a dragon and a human. So, that's what I called him at that point. He stood there for a moment then turned his head back at me. Smiled nodded his head once made what sounded like a laugh (if you can call chewing rocks a laugh) and sat back down. Once he did, I could see again the judge wasn't looking anymore. He walked toward the left side judge stands and did his light trick thing again. "You are all dismissed return to your posts and bodies. For those of you that astral projected here." People started leaving some just straight faded out and were gone. Others flew away in different directions. I was one of the fliers. As I was leaving all I could think was is this real because it sure feels real. All the things he talked about were there. Maybe this was a dream, but something is nagging at me. It was one of those gut feelings. You don't know how to describe it, but you just know. My thoughts were interrupted by this beeping noise. It got louder and louder till I realized it was my alarm clock. I woke up with a jolt. The dream was still fresh in my mind. I had to go check on him that's all I could think about. I was dressed and out the door faster than I thought possible. Once I got there, I saw cars I had never seen before. 2 cars and a truck they were all old school though. Like I mean from the 1960s or something. I couldn't really tell cars are so not my thing. As I walked up to the door something felt different. It felt more tense as I got closer to the house. Then as I got to the door to go inside I could hear voices. They didn't sound happy, I couldn't tell what they were saying but the tone was a giveaway. I took a deep breath "Here goes nothing." As I opened the door and walked in. The moment I opened the door they stopped talking. Once I saw them it was kind of a duh moment. There was a woman and two men. "Who are you?" said one of the men. I looked right at him. He was a thin rail-looking man. 30s maybe, supper pale too and he gave me this creepy vibe. Even his clothes were odd I mean who wears a trench coat that's black in the summer? His eyes were kind of drawn into his face and he had kind of a bony look. Like there was no fat to his body and the skin was just stretched over the bones. "I said BOY who are you?!" That made me jump it was literally a moment from the last time he asked. His voice changed from the first time it was a normal voice. This time not so much it sounded more like a gravel and deep voice. It even made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and it gave me chills all over. I couldn't help but think of how a demon was portrayed as sounding in a book. It made me think of that I don't really know why either. It's either that or I have been reading way too many books again. The guy next to him took a step forward and his presence was different. It was like a majestic noble air. He was built like a flipping brick house. When I looked at him, he just made me think of something like royalty but more like what you would think Viking royalty would look like. Tall, very strong build like he was a bodybuilder, and the clothes he was wearing were average. Jeans a T-shirt a pair of tennis shoes and that was it. As he stepped in front of him there was this calming feeling. I couldn't place it but for some reason, I was calming down. More so as he got in front of that Gentz guy. When I looked at him he smiled. For a second my mind flashed and I remembered that Dragon-man that looked at me. "Young man where you John's assistant?" "Yes, I was. He was paying me to help around the house and to do things for him. I also drove him to doctors' appointments or to the store. Why, and who are you people?" "We are friends of John. My name is Drakus. Her name is Tina. The gentleman who talked to you before is Gentz. Don't mind his attitude he spent a lot of his time in the military." When their names were mentioned they nodded their head in acknowledgment. When he called her Leearea it kind of surprised me. She looks kind of like what John said in one of his stories. When I looked at her it was hard not to get lost in her beauty. She was a 5'4" slim figure with that hourglass figure. Her skin was this soft white. Her eyes were bright blue and long black hair. It was a very attractive look more so with her aura of calm. The dress was what threw me off. Cause as the light hit the dress there were these little droplets of what looked like water. "How could that be possible? Water won't hold like that. Maybe it's something else but I have this feeling that I'm right. But who are these other two guys? Why did I think of that Dragon-man when he smiled….? Something is not right" I thought to myself. I feel that Gentz guy is very dangerous. Something tells me don't leave myself alone with him. Wait a minute….. Where the heck are all these "feelings" coming from... Something is off here as to what I have no clue. I need to make sure I get passed them to check on Mr. Anderson. I'll worry about the other stuff later. Now to figure out what's going on and why they are here. "well excuse me I need to go and check on Mr. Anderson. He hasn't been doing good these last couple of days." I started to walk around them when I heard the guy called Drakus call out to me. "Ummmm….. about that young man. He passed away early this morning. We had come by to check on him and found him. He had passed away in his sleep." "…. I see…. Well then…." I wasn't sure how to feel about this. I wanted to be upset but some part of me knew. The other part played it off. I got tears in my eyes and looked back at them. "Then obviously you have a question to ask me. So, what can I do for you 'cause after I'm going home." I said with a soft voice. The woman Leearea spoke and it was heavenly. Her voice was soft and light. "We understand that you were working for him. We just wanted to know did he tell you where he placed his will. John had told me about you. Said that he saw you as a grandson. Even though the two of you had only been around each other for 4 months. It was 4 great months he had told me just here recently. I was close to him. He wanted me to make sure that things go where they are supposed to go." Some part of me just knew she was telling the truth. Grrr.... Again, with these "feelings". "One second" I said to her as I walked up the stairs to Mr. Anderson's room. Sitting on his desk under a bunch of papers was a white envelope. I grabbed it right as I pulled it up a piece of paper fell. When I picked it up there was writing on it. Andrew if you're reading this then I did die. At least I hope, if not some people should show up. If they do trust yourself. You will know who to trust out of the three people. I know you have questions because of things that are happening all will be made clear don't worry. It was signed by John Anderson Guardian Ultimate of the Milky Way Galaxy Planet Earth (T). Huh?? Guardian Ultimate of the Milky Way Galaxy? Now I have even more questions…. I kept the paper with me and took it as well as the white envelope down with me. Okay, let's pause for a second now to explain something. I know you have questions. Who are these Guardians and what do they do? Well if you keep up I'll tell you about them myself soon. I would love to tell you now cause it's flipping cool. However, if I was to tell you now it would take away from it later on. Cause once I start explaining stuff your mind could be blown. So let's jump back into it because you want to know more and I would love to tell you more. So here we go. Once I got back downstairs, I handed the white envelope to Leearea. "He told me that this was to go to you or whoever showed up." She took it from me opened it and got quiet. It looked like there were a couple of pages to it. For some reason, it didn't take her long to read through it. "Well, this is interesting. Drakus you need to read this then let Gentz read it after." He took it from her looking confused. Which confused me as well. Once he read it heir was a pause, he glanced at me like 4 or 5 times while reading it. This got me worried... After he finished then he told me "You can leave young man. However, could you leave a phone number for us to reach you? There are a few items that are listed as yours." "What do you mean a few items listed as mine?" "It's just like it sounds he left a few things to you." "Ooo... Okay, I will leave it to you then." I was going to use a piece of the note I found but it was gone. I didn't say anything but it was odd. I know it was just in my hand. I grabbed a piece of scrap paper from the study wrote it down and left.