Chapter 28: Kamar-Taj's Influence

When Isaiah Sharpe opened his eyes, he looked at the familiar scene in front of him. The vast expansive void that stretches into the infinite.

[I am Nothing]

At this point, the young boy was not surprised anymore.

[Yet I know Everything]

The boy didn't move as he floated in the empty space fastening to his voice.

[Falling into the never-ending void]

[Only to lose everything]

The surroundings began to warp bringing colour into the void. Isaiah then widened his eyes when he heard his voice didn't stop.

[I have lost much, but I have gained much more]

'Another line?'

[For the infinite knowledge, I shall learn]

[For the infinite heroes, I shall seek]

The surroundings soon shifted and the boy found himself sitting on a familiar throne. Shaking his head, he looked up.

'Something's different.'

He recognized the throne he was sitting on to be the same as the previous time he came to this place. He looked around and saw the fog had back away from the last time he had examined it. Before he could only see the throne and nothing else. However, now, the fog had cleared a bit or more like it had gone back revealing more parts of the room he was in. He saw that the room stretched about fifteen meters to either of his sides before meeting a wall that went up so high it was hidden by the fog. Looking down, he saw the stairs leading down to the red carpet. If before he had a suspicion about the room he was in being a throne room, now Isaiah had no doubt.

Placing his hands on the armrests of the throne, he tried to get up. To his surprise, there was no resistance like last time and he could now move. He slowly got up and approached the fog with a curious expression. Lifting his right hand, he slowly picked at the fog.

"Huh?"

To his surprise, his finger couldn't go through and Isaiah felt like he was poking a wall. It was like the fog was some kind of barrier that prevented him from taking another step into it.

"Oi."

Startled by the voice, Isaiah quickly turned around and banged his back onto the fog wall. He looked at the source of the voice and saw a thin man sitting at the base of the throne's stairs. The man was tall. He had dark blue hair with red eyes. He also had a blue bodysuit with silver pauldrons as well as a metal plate on his lower abdomen. He also wore a pair of silver earrings and his hair was tied in a ponytail. Resting on his shoulder was Gae Bolg, however, it didn't emit its killing intent like the time in the battle of Stonehenge. Overall, the man was emitting a feral aura reminding the boy of a beast ready to tear in its enemies. Isaiah tilted his head as he was hit with a sense of familiarity.

"Do I know you?"

Cú Chulainn grinned,

"I hope so since I'm the one who saved yer arse." the man replied amused.

Isaiah looked at him until finally, a light bulb lit up in him.

"It's you. You're the one who possessed me."

Cú Chulainn's eyebrow twitched,

"Oi! I didn't possess ye! M'not some bloody ghost. Besides, yer the one who called me for help," the hero retorted.

Isaiah suddenly recalled the few seconds right before he got possessed by the man.

"I remember saying those words then your voice before blacking out. Then I woke up again to destroy the portal and I passed out again. What happened?"

Cú Chulainn raised an eyebrow,

"Ye don't remember?"

The boy shook his head.

"Huh. Must've been more injured than I thought. I thought you would've observed the fight," the man said.

"What do you mean?" Isaiah asked as he got off from the fog.

The Child Of Light sighed and gestured to the throne.

"Come sit and I'll explain."

Isaiah raised an eyebrow,

"You want me to sit there?"

"Of course! It's yer's after all."

Isaiah nodded and walked up the stairs before sitting down on the throne. The hero lowered his weapon and it disappeared into blue motes of mana. He turned around and recounted what happened during his time unconscious.

Isaiah sighed when the Irish hero finally finished.

"So let me get this straight. I recited an incomplete aria which summoned you, Cú Chulainn, and let you possess me. Then you defeated the demon, but because the spell was too taxing on me, you had to release the spell and let me take over where I then closed the barrier. Is that it?"

"Yeah." Cú Chulainn shrugged.

"And what is the complete aria?"

At that, the hero smirked,

"Ye already know it, lad. In fact, ye've known for a while."

Isaiah looked at him before leaning back on the throne,

"I see. I've had my suspicions the first time I heard the aria lines. The suspicion increased when I first came into this place and talked to some of the shadows. Now, you've pretty much confirmed it. Were you one of those shadow people?"

Cú Chulainn chuckled,

"Yeah. But we're not shadow people. If ye don't already know, then ye'll know soon enough once ye complete yer aria."

Isaiah then asked the hero,

"I've been curious for a while, but why are you the only one here. Where are the others and what can you tell me about the fog."

"It's because ye've forcibly summoned me. If ye hadn't, I would have been behin' the fog and ye would've been unable to see me. And about the fog, it will retreat once this place is complete."

"Do you perhaps know the name?"

At that, the hero shook his head,

"Yes."

Isaiah raised an eyebrow,

"Then can you tell me?"

"Ye wouldn't understand if I tell you. There's no point," Setanta shrugged.

"Why don't you try?" the boy asked with a twinkle of excitement.

"Ar'right then."

The hero looked directly into Isaiah's eyes,

"Isaiah Sharpe. You're the King of theK̷̜͖̄͗͋̈́̍̈̐͐̍́͛̇̓̕͘̕i̵̡̧̳̪̲̯̬̘̻̤̼̣̘̽ͅͅn̴̢̛̖̩͍̱̬͙̎̊̉͂̌̀͘͠ḡ̷̡̦̰̗͍̘̟͗̑̌|̷͇̰̫̺̯̝̺͚̫͙̈́̈́͘@̵̛͕̲̺̙̺̈̆͌̋́͒̏͌͊̀͊̌͝͠$̶̡̧͓̗̦̮̤͙̖͝%̶̢̙̙̯̟̹̩̦̀̍̀͌̈́̍̔̀͂̆̍͗̉͝͝ͅ#̷͉̻̺͕̖͛̒̓͛͝ ̵̢̝̼͙͚̼̤͖̲̖̫̯̜͌̅̈̄̔̇@̸̪̦͓̟̈́̀͜f̵̣̅͋̎̈́̄͊̀̀̐̍͆̉̇͝ ̴̡̨͍̼̭̭̠̲̪͚̥̜̬̘̺̾̑̋̓̽̌̾͋̀̈́͐̈́͘͝͝ͅM̸͔͉̦̩̺̭̤͍͔̻̿͑̈̀̕͜͝͠ͅͅy̶̨̺̖̪̹̭͍̣̫̙͕̦̰̹̹͗̎̉̅́̈́̀͌̔̊͌͑̋̾͝͝$̴̧̪̙̳͕͍͎̯̱͔͌͛̄|̸̡̢̛͕̺̝̬̪̻̤̬̪̯̺͇̿̿̔%̸̙̹̙̱͌͂̀̐́́͜ͅ#̴̨͂͆͆̄̀̎̒̈̎̃͘r̸̪̐i̴̟̰̝̯̼̺̮̤͚̩͇̦̪̯͔̎͗̇͌͛̿̒̆̈́̒͑̽̀̂͝ẽ̷̡̧̢̠̦̳̮̲̘̠̘͎͈͎̲͝ͅŝ̵̡̮͉̮̝̜̞̥͈͚̳͓̥"̵̡̻͇̖͍͖̖̳͕̭̰̞̤͉͗͂͛̍̎͘͝

"Say what? I didn't quite hear you," replied Isaiah with a confused expression.

"See? Since this place is not complete, ye won't be able to hear the name." the Child of LIght said with a smirk.

Isaiah sighed,

"Alright, it doesn't matter for now."

He looked around,

"So how do I get out of here?"

The man looked at him a little confused.

"What do ye mean, how? This is yer place! Just will it!"

Isaiah followed the hero's advice and did just that. He willed himself to get out of this place and wake up into the outside world. Soon the throne room faded into black as Cú Chulainn left his words,

"See ye soon, O King."

Isaiah slowly opened his eyes and tried to get up.

"Ugh!"

He winced when he felt his whole body in pain and lay back down in the bed. He looked to his right and saw a table with his glasses which he picked up and wore. Now, he was simply looking at the ceiling while recalling everything that happened. The boy then activated his circuits to check on them but stopped mid-way when an intense assaulted him. It felt like hot lava was running through his body.

"Alright, my circuits are incapacitated for now."

It was then the door opened and the Ancient One walked into the infirmary.

"Teacher?" Isaiah called when he saw the woman.

The latter smiled and replied,

"Hello, Isaiah. I see you're awake."

The boy nodded and wanted to sit up. However, seeing his intentions, Fiona placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Don't get up, Isaiah. You're still injured."

Isaiah sighed and leaned back down.

"How are you feeling?" the woman asked after conjuring a chair and sitting on it.

"Like I was run over by a truck and swam into a pool of magma." the boy replied.

Fiona nodded,

"I see. I hope you recover fast, Isaiah. Just rest for now."

the boy looked at her,

"How long was I out for?"

"You've been unconscious for a week."

"A week!?" the boy asked bewildered.

Fiona nodded,

"Yes, it has been a week since the battle of Stonehenge. Today's date is February 12th, 2007."

"What happened?"

"After you fell unconscious, I brought you here to heal. Then I went to repair the Stonehenge landmark using the Eye of Agomotto."

"But what about the mess we created? I mean, the light show itself was enough to attract the attention of the non-magical world,' Isaiah asked.

However, to his surprise, the Ancient One simply smirked.

" There are no traces of battle left. All the victims were returned to their households after altering their memories. It did take quite some time for that. However, you don't need to worry about exposure."

Raising an eyebrow, Isaiah asked her why.

"Isaiah, the Order has been around for a really really long time. Do you think we only live in the Sanctums?" the teacher asked.

"What do you mean?"

"People come here for all kinds of reasons, but the main one is for healing. But what happens when they are healed?"

"They stay or go home?"

Fiona nodded,

"That's right. They either stay in Kamar-Taj to continue their magical education or they go home with the knowledge they have learned and the powers they have acquired to heal themselves. So, over the centuries, there have been many that have gone home after healing. However, they will always be a part of the Order. In doing so, our influence has spread throughout history. Although, not as much as before, we still have some influence today."

Isaiah was now shocked since he has never heard of this.

"Are you saying that you controlled the media?"

His teacher shook her head,

"No, I don't control the media. I merely directed them to another story using the same information."

"Huh?"

Fiona took something out of her sleeve,

"Here. Read this." the woman said handing the boy a local newspaper.

Isaiah grabbed the paper and read the part the woman pointed out.

[February 7th, 2007.

Last night, around midnight, many witnessed a series of light shows at the location of Stonehenge Landmark causing worries for civilians. After an investigation, it was found that someone has been using fireworks due to the evidence of used material found on-site inside the perimeter of the landmark...]

Isaiah stared at the paper and didn't know what to think.

"Wait. Did you just leave those there and let them come to conclusion?"

"No. I have an older disciple, who works for the local news, misinform the public about the events that transpired that night."

" Wow! I didn't know you could do that."

Fiona had a slight smug on her face at the comment.

"So. What happened to you? Master Wong and Master Minoru only explained to me what they witnessed."

Isaiah sighed and put the paper down before recounting what happened to him.

Fiona leaned back on the chair and digested the information she was given.

"Cú Chulainn... Possession... A spell that summons heroes of old, huh? Not to mention the fact that it's not the true potential of the spell." the woman then looked at the boy, "Do you know what that place is?"

Isaiah nodded,

"That place is a Reality Marble." a gleam of excitement was seen in his eyes.

"Reality... Marble?"

"Yes. A Reality Marble is an innate bounded field that centres around the materialization and projection of one's inner world onto reality. In that world, it is usually possessed by daemons. However, some people develop it because they have an alien common sense. This ability allows one to project our inner world, or the manifestation of our soul, outside and replace the World. This ability literally replaces the world for my own. Each Reality Marble is different as it is the manifestation of one's soul."

The teacher remained silent for a moment,

"Truly, every time something happens, you manage to surprise me. So are we going to see more heroes?"

She decided not to comment on the fact that the child in front of her admitted that he had an Alien common sense. If it meant what she understood it meant, then she was going to help Isaiah even more.

Isaiah shrugged,

"I think. Once my Reality Marble is complete, then we will see. I'm excited to see who I will meet." said Isaiah giddy.

The woman put her thoughts about the boy's mental state aside and stood up before shipping her hand in front of the chair making it disappear.

"Rest for now, Isaiah. You have worked hard and you need to heal," Fiona said while lightly ruffling the boy's hair.

"Oh... okay. Bye."

"Bye, Isaiah," the woman replied and left the infirmary.

Isaiah watched as his teacher disappeared from view with a complex expression. He then slowly raised his hand and placed it on his head where the woman ruffled it He released a soft smile as he gazed at the ceiling.

***

Isaiah was walking down the corridor of Kamar-Taj. It has been two days since he had woken up and now he was almost recovered. Although his body was quickly recovering, his magic circuits were taking longer. The boy estimated that he would make a full recovery in a week or two. But it's not like he couldn't use magic. He could still use his Eldritch magic so he was not incapacitated.

Over the two days, Tina and Wong visited him to check on him as well as sometimes bring him food when this teacher wouldn't let him leave the bed. Right now, he simply wanted to relax so he decided to call his friend.

He went to his room and entered the bathroom. There, he picked up a bucket and filled it with water to the brim. He then went to his desk where he placed the bucket. He looked out the window and saw the sun rays illuminating the desk fulfilling the conditions he needed. He held his hand on top of the bucked and orange-gold arcane energy crackled below his palm. He then started making hand signs and created an Eldritch Magic formation. Once the formation was created he placed it at 0.5 centimetres from the surface of the water and activated it. The formation glowed for a moment and slowly started to spin in place. Soon, he could see the water drops floating up and into the formation which then expelled the water by transforming it into the mist. The boy waited until there was enough most and, soon enough, the sun rays hitting the desk were blocked by the most creating a rainbow.

Isaiah opened a drawer and retrieved a gold coin. This was a golden drachma. It is the main currency in the Greek mythological world. However, they also had another feature. The boy placed took the coin and said to the rainbow,

"O Iris, Goddess of Rainbow, please accept my offering"

The boy then threw the golden drachma into the rainbow which then disappeared leaving a shower of gold.

"Show me, Bianca di Angelo."

He had checked the time in New York and it was supposed to be 10:00 on February 14th so she wouldn't be asleep at this time. Soon the rainbow warped and twisted until a ring with a diameter of one meter appeared.

***

Bianca di Angelo was the daughter of Hades, the God of the Underworld, and she felt like giving an early permanent visit to her father. Middle school sucked and there was nothing she could do about it. The teacher droned on and on about the presidents that she was sure she wouldn't remember in the future. Not to mention the fact that today was Valentine's day, and hearts and roses were everywhere in school. Just as she felt like she was about to pass out of boredom, she suddenly felt the air in front of her shimmer and twist revealing a rainbow ring. Her heartbeat quickened as panic ran through her veins thinking it was a monster attack. Zeus knows how many she had to deal with throughout two months! She was twelve! Or seventy-seven, it depended on how you looked at it. Soon the inside of the ring cleared and she could see Isaiah on the other side.

"Isaiah!" she called out loud. She silently cursed her heart since it was beating a bit too quickly.

Unfortunately, she had been too loud and everyone in her classroom heard it.

"Is there something wrong, Mrs. di Angelo?"

The girl snapped her neck to the teacher who was scrutinizing her.

"Hum, no sir. Nothing wrong."

Seems like only she can see the message, which relieved her a little. Maybe the Mist was helping her.

"Then please pay attention to the class." the teacher before turning back to the board.

Once the teacher turned around, she looked at the iris message with a glare

"What are you doing, Isaiah!?" she whispered making sure that no one can hear her. It helped that she was at the back of the class so everyone was looking at the teacher.

The sorcerer had a confused expression,

"Is this not a good time?" he asked as he tried to look at Bianca's surroundings.

The girl let out a small sigh,

"Yeah," she answered before quickly saying, "But it's okay."

The boy looked unconvinced,

"Are you sure?"

Bianca nodded.

"So why did you call?" she asked whilst trying to calm her heart.

She could almost hear it. Isaiah shook his head,

"Nothing much, I just wanted to call you and see how you were doing. I also wanted to ask you a question."

*Ba-dump*

'Shit!'

"So where are you?"

"In history class."

"History class? Wait. Are you in school, right now?"

Bianca nodded.

"Then I don't want to disturb you."

Bianca's eyes widened,

"No!" she replied, although a bit too loud once more.

Some of her classmates turned around in confusion and she wanted to bury her face in the ground. When they finally turned back to the teacher, Bianca looked at the Iris message.

"You don't need to go now."

Isaiah slowly nodded feeling out of dept from the girl's behaviour.

"So what was your question?"

"Hum... Do you remember when you said that friends are supposed to hang out?"

*Ba-dump*

"Y-Yes?"

"Why don't we do this "hanging out" thing today?"

*Ba-dump* *Ba-dump*

Bianca didn't know what to answer.

'Is he aware of what he's saying? And why today of all day!?'

"D-Do you know what today is?" she asked.

Isaiah raised an eyebrow,

"Is today something special?"

Bianca looked at him stunned.

"It's the 14th of February."

Isiah tilted his head,

"And?"

"Valentine's day?"

"What's that?"

All the nervousness and the excitement Bianca was feeling suddenly fell flat when she heard the answer.

'Of course, he doesn't know what Valentine's day is. What was I expecting?' she deadpanned

"Bianca?" the boy called out.

The girl gave a discreet smile,

"Sure. I'll Iris-message you when I finish school."

"Alright. See ya, Bianca!"

"See you soon, Isaiah."

Isaiah shipped the rainbow ring and Bianca could see the ring blur and disappear into the mist. She looked down at her notebook and couldn't help but let out a small smile.

'Maybe this class is not so bad after all.'