Central Hospital (Caracas, Venezuela)

Once again, I was standing next to my sleeping body. Dr. Salazar held out his hand. "It's time. Come."

I nodded and reached for his hand. When we touched, we were caught in a vortex that took us to the roof of the hospital. It was a really weird feeling; we literally passed through the hospital floors.

"Are you ready?"

"It's not like I have any other option, do I?" I answered, resigned.

He knocked on the floor twice with his staff, and a golden, nine-feet- wide sphere appeared out of nowhere. We stepped in, going through the jelly-like walls of the sphere, and it rose vertiginously fast. I could see the worried face of the old man, who seemed to be directing the sphere telepathically. Suddenly, we were in outer space. My dizziness stopped slowly, and I caught sight of the blue ball that was planet Earth.

It was a relaxing image, and we got closer and closer to it. I didn't realize how fast we were going until we rushed by the clouds. We were now in London, overflying the Big Ben. I couldn't believe I was standing next to Salazar, on top of a cloud sixteen feet above an incredibly high hotel. Salazar sat in the hard edge of the cloud and asked me to sit next to him. I was a little scared, but did as he told me.

Salazar grabbed a cloth bag from a side of his armor, pulling out some little bright white balls that looked like marbles. He ate one with pleasure, and I could see his mouth lit up inside out. He offered me one.

"What's that?" I was weirded out. "Light balls."

"Light balls? What do they taste like?"

"Have one and find out." He held out the bag.

It was full of the little bright white balls shining intermittently. I took one and put it in my mouth. It was warm and without much of a taste. My body started to warm up, a calm and pleasing feeling overcoming me, and I felt my mood lift up. It was an odd sensation, one that I've never felt before.

Right under us, two people came out to the hotel's roof. My breath caught in my chest when I noticed who they were: the fake pretty doctor, also winged and wearing a silver armor, and Suhail.

"What the fuck is going out? Why is that psycho doctor taking her?"

Salazar stood up, thumped the cloud with his staff, and the golden sphere appeared again. "Come with me, I'll explain everything," he said, extending his hand.

The only thing I could think about while we rode again in the sphere was that that weird doctor had taken Suhail. We traveled through space and, in a flash, arrived at the same meadow where I managed to escape from the ghosts. I could hear the sound of the waves angrily hitting the shore and see, in front of the cliff, at its highest point, the ivory tower, which stood proudly like a queen presiding over her subjects. We landed a few feet away from the door and Salazar hit the floor with his staff. The door to his home opened and he went in. I trailed behind him, still a little apprehensive.

Salazar left his staff standing, on its own, near the door and went to the caldron to stir something green and gleaming. I sat down in one of the comfy white couches, I was anxious and worried waiting for his explanation.

Whatever patience I had left quickly went out of the window when Salazar continued to stir his pot. "Now are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Quiet, don't invoke them."

"What the fuck is going on? What is this? A dream? Heaven? Hell?" "Hold on, we're waiting for someone."

"What was Suhail doing here, in my dream? Why was she with that crazy doctor?"

Someone knocked on the door. Salazar raised his hand and the door opened. Suhail came in, wearing white and looking beautiful. She hurled herself at me.

"What are you doing in my dream?" Suhail said.

"I think they're about to tell us," I answered her, looking at the old man out of the corner of my eye; he was still stirring the caldron. Salazar looked up and, smiling, invited us to sit at a wooden dinner table.

"It's not a dream. You're in another dimension."

"Wait a minute, I know you!" exclaimed Suhail. She went up to Salazar, who was now tasting the green stuff. It smelled surprisingly sweet.

"You're the wizard from the park. Why did you give me that white book? What's Aníbal doing here?" Suhail turned to look at me. "What happened to your cast? Are you feeling better? What's going on?"

"My fracture is just like your stutter: gone!" I said, astonished.

"Would you like to eat?" Salazar interrupted us. He clapped once, and out of nowhere several white dishes appeared and a ladle filled them up. At the table, a little blue-winged pixie holding a heavy wooden jar was pouring some green-colored drink, the same shade of the caldron's content, into our glasses.

Suhail was staring open-mouthed at this magical display. She gave me a confused look. I grabbed a wooden spoon and took a sip of green soup. The effect it had on me was the same as the one from the light balls. Suhail, seeing my encouraging smile, picked up her wooden spoon, too.

"What's going on in this dream? And what happened to Aníbal's cast and my stutter?"

"Here, in the Astral Plane, karma does not manifest itself like in the Physical Plane. That's why here your souls are completely free because you don't have a body limiting you," answered Salazar.

"Karma?"

"Yes, karma, but you'll understand that later," seeing Suhail's stunned face, he continued, "Very well, then. I'll tell you why I went looking for you both."

"You went looking for us? I don't understand! Aren't we dreaming?"

"No. You've left your bodies behind in an astral travel."

"Astral travel?"

Salazar made the dirty dishes disappear with a wave of his hands. "Yes. I've summoned you here to offer you a job—"

"A job!" interrupted Suhail, annoyed.

"What kind of job?"

"It's related to your vibrational wave, what you'd call your life mission."

"Vibrational wave? Life mission? I don't understand anything. Can't you explain better?" Suhail glared at me like it was my fault she was here. Salazar leaned back in his white armchair and resumed his explanation.

"Millions of years ago, God created the universe and all the parallel ones, and continues to do just that. One of the newest is your Solar System. Triezguer, or planet Earth as you call it, had some troubles that you'll learn in your training... If you accept this difficult mission, of course!"

"What kind of problems?"

"It was inhabited by angels, both good and... Well, let's say the other ones were envious. They wanted to dominate the entire system, and because of this, God banished them to prison. Since then, the whole Solar System was put in quarantine."

"What's that?"

"It's an energy designation where a system is cut off from the others, limiting the universal knowledge of that system's planets. That's why there are wars, poverty, and misery on your planet. Every 25,000 years, the jailed angels have a chance to leave their prison."

"How? How can they do that?"

"The only way is to get at least one of the seven astral keys with help from the incarnated beings that live in Triezguer."

"What would happen if these angels are freed?"

Salazar stood up, waved his fingers and a familiar multicolored book came flying. "It would be the end of the Solar System; they'd destroy it."

I tried to think something smart to say if only to show off in front of Suhail. "Why'd they do that?"

"Because of this," holding the book open, Salazar showed us a planetary map. "A healthy system is directly connected to God and the archangels; this connection helps the system's occupants to evolve faster. In the planets of these systems, negotiation triumphs over imposition; exactly the opposite of what happens on your planet. That's why there are so much violence and suffering, so many wars."

Energy balls in an array of colors, like little planets, popped up in the map, connected by a golden line that crossed them in the middle. Salazar turned over the page, and the same map appeared, but this time, the planets were gray and there was no line crossing them.

"A system is put in quarantine to stop the sick planets in the system from spreading its contagion to the other systems. The only way the

rebel angels have of reaching other planets is to destroy the planet where they got out of prison."

"Wait, what do you mean, a sick planet? Planets don't get sick!"

Salazar closed his book, which floated back to its place in the library. "Triezguer has been sick since the moment humanity let negative feelings overcome them. It filled with violence, envy, sadness and fratricidal wars; it's why there are so many earthquakes, tsunamis and other energy imbalances."

"OK, assuming all of this is true, what can two kids, really, do against a legion of rebel angels?" demanded Suhail.

"A lot, my dear, a lot."

"Why doesn't God send his good angels to stop the rebels so they won't destroy his creation?"

"Because of free will?"

"Free will? Come on! How's God going to leave Earth in the hands of the rebels?"

"He's giving you two the opportunity to choose if you help him stop them from escaping. You get to choose if you want to accept this dangerous mission and save the Solar System, beginning with Triezguer."

"Save our Solar System!" huffed Suhail. "Why these angels want to take over our planet first and not any of the others?"

"Because Triezguer is the sickest planet of the inhabited planets of the Solar System and therefore, the weakest. Evil reigns unchecked, and because of that, the fallen angels want to attack with all their strength and end the entire Solar System," said Salazar, his expression somber.

I tried to show Suhail that what Salazar was saying was completely crazy. "OK!" I exclaimed, "'the inhabited planets of the Solar System'? What's that supposed to mean? Everyone knows that there's no way there's life in Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Mercury... All the most renowned scientists have proven this time and time again!"

"Just because we can't see them with our own eyes doesn't mean they don't exist."

"Come on! Now you're telling me they are invisible! Please!"

Salazar set a dish for the winged Dalmatian that had just landed. Suhail goggled at it, amazed.

"Do you believe in God?" Salazar pierced me with his blue eyes.

"Of course!"

"How do you believe in him if you've never seen him?"

"Well... yeah, but that's different..." I spluttered.

"Different? Mmm," Salazar sounded skeptical.

"God exists, that's what priests said," I proclaimed.

"Mmm, and why do you believe them if they haven't seen him, either?"

"It's faith," I answered without hesitation.

"Exactly! That's your best shield against evil: your faith in yourself. When you believe in you and in your kindness, and you acknowledge your faults, you'll be able to take and feel God within."

"OK, I really don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"You'll never be able to really see and understand what happens in this beautiful universe if you try to make sense of it with your mind. Only through your heart and self-esteem you'll be capable of feeling God and find out the mysteries that hide around us."

"You mean, only with the eyes of the heart could we really see these people?" Suhail commented.

"Yes, exactly! They exist in a different vibrational frequency than the residents of your planet, because they reached a higher dimension faster than the people in your planet did."

"Dimension?" I asked.

"Yes, Aníbal, a dimension. God created, and keeps creating, the entire Universe and divided it into seven dimensions. For example, your planet exists in the third dimension; it's the least advanced planet in the Solar System. The rest are already in the fourth or fifth dimension."

"What can we do, then? What's the first step to take if we actually accept this mission?"

"First you have to sign your Akashic record—the book I gave you¬— with a golden feather. Then you'll receive an invitation to start your training."

"Training?"

"Everyone who wishes to find the seven keys must complete a strict training in order to choose the hunters that'll protect the Carrier."

"The what?"

Salazar closed his eyes, his lids twitching as if he was receiving some sort of extra sensory message. "If you accept, we'll meet in thirty-three hours at the training grounds," he exclaimed, opening his eyes suddenly.

"But—"

Salazar grabbed his staff and knocked on the floor. I felt a strike of pain in my fractured arm, like a lightning bolt, and was taken aback when I saw the hour: it was 10 o'clock in the morning. More than ten hours had passed, but it felt just like only minutes had passed.