A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND (1)

After he finished, he put the cup onto the table and said "Now, what is that proposition you have in mind?"

Viviane smiled.

"You seem a bit rushed. Don't you wanna know where you are?"

"Heaven isn't it? You are a goddess of some kind."

"..."

"Is it not?"

Looking a little confused, Viviane got up from her seat and fixed her hat. She had never imagined that he would describe her as a goddess. It wasn't wrong after all. She is indeed as beautiful as a goddess, she thought.

'huhu.' she covers her mouth and giggles as she thought that was funny. 

Turning her body, she starts walking out of the gazebo. 

"First, you should come with me." Viviane says as she walks out of the gazebo, leaving the serious-looking man behind.

The bird who is napping on the bed wakes up and lets out a big yawn. It decides to fly, following Viviane from behind, leaving the serious-looking Satria alone in the gazebo. Satria just stared at them silently. 

He just thought that these strange events could only happen after he died. The woman is some kind of goddess and this place was a heaven, something like that. That was the only explanation he could think of. With his arms tightly folded, Satria sat there, deep into his thoughts.

Viviane doesn't bother asking Satria to follow her again. She knows that he will come along, as he has so many questions that need an answer. Once they were already quite far off, Satria got up and began to walk after them. Viviane seems to be talking with the white bird as Satria approaches them. Her head turns, and she steals a brief glance in his direction. He is walking with his hands in his pocket, staring at the lake. Viviane put a smile on her face. The three of them, except for the bird, decide to walk in silence.

After a while, the three of them reach an empty hill at the other side of the lake. At the end of the limestone path, there was nothing but an empty hill. It was only a lone hill without even a single tree on it. 

The breeze is quite strong as they stand atop the empty treeless hill. The wind whispers by, fluttering Viviane's robes and hair. She was holding her hat, preventing it from being carried by the wind.

"This is it, an empty hill on the other side of a lake." Viviane said.

Her smile widening, as they reached their destination.

Excited by what it heard, the bird chirped and swiftly flew towards the summit. A strange thing happens as the bird reaches the summit. The bird, who just flies straight forwards, suddenly vanishes. It made Satria flinch in surprise. 

Looking for the bird, Satria's head moved from right to left, but the creature was nowhere in sight. Flabbergasted, he then turned his eyes to Viviane, who surprisingly, seemed pretty calm despite what was happening.

"Ah, don't worry, she's okay." Viviane waved her hand casually as if there was nothing to be worried about.

Viviane snaps her fingers a few times. With each time her fingers snap, it unveils something unexpected. The first snap distorted the views of the hill. The treeless hill is now covered with flowers and trees. There is also a fountain with a mermaid statue holding a chalice with golden colored water flowing from it. The second snap reveals a large mansion at the center. Standing tall and grand, it took on the appearance of a medieval-style mansion. The third snap shatters some kind of barrier that surrounds the mansion, revealing its silvery white color. The fourth snap, the last snap, reveals something that makes Satria, who was already confused by the situation he was in, frozen. A tower appeared, a giant tower floating with crystal fragments surrounding it. The tower, which was a few times larger than the mansion, floats behind it.

Satria widened his eyes in shock. His mouth opened as he couldn't get a grasp of what was happening. It was the weirdest thing he ever saw in his life. He wondered, how could a tower that big floating above the mansion, not to mention there are crystal fragments surrounding it.

'What the–. How can a tower float? What the hell is going on?' 

Satria thought in disbelief. Surely his eyes won't fool him, and yet, the giant tower floats around. Satria swallowed his own saliva, it was something that he had never imagined. A giant tower, floating.

Viviane glances at Satria who seems to always be surprised with everything. 

'Well, it wasn't something that could be found anywhere on earth anyway.' She thought as she watched the frozen Satria with his mouth wide open.

Viviane turns her body around and walks towards him. Satria, who had just frozen in place, couldn't notice Viviane approaching. His eyes fixed onto the strange tall and floating tower. Suddenly, something struck his back, causing him to fall down. 

Taken aback, Satria turns his head on the culprit. Viviane just stood there smiling.

"Come one, stop standing around and follow me."

"..."

"Stop being so weak, I didn't even hit you that hard."

"Hah." Satria sighs, he can't understand what this woman was thinking.

Satria got up brushing away any dirt from his clothes, then followed Viviane into the mansion.

*

"Who exactly are you?"

"I am the one and only apprentice of Merlin the Great, the Protector of Avalon, Viviane."

"..."

Viviane, who was joking around before, now seems to have taken Satria's question seriously. After entering the mansion Viviane aura changes into a more serious demeanor. She wasn't teasing him anymore, instead she just walked quietly and led him around the mansion.

"I've been watching you for quite some time, Satria Kusuma Wijaya."

"So you're just a stalker."

"In a sense, yes."

Perplexed, Satria didn't expect her answer. He said that just to see her reaction but she said it in such a serious tone, without a hint of humor or playfulness. Satria continues to walk behind her closely as he understands that now they get into the main business.

"The floating tower you see outside is called the Tower of Avalon."

"..." He went silent, giving Viviane time for her to tell her story.

"It wasn't always called the Tower of Avalon, before it was called the Mehrunse Tower."

"..."

"Mehrunse. He was the one who built the tower, along with other people."

"..."

"The purpose of that tower is to help with overseeing the flow of magic in Contraria."

The two of them reached a big steel door with patterns and engraved symbols on it. Viviane put her hands on the door.

"This door serves as a gate, forming a link between the tower and the mansion."

Without waiting for Satria to swallow the information he just got, Viviane opens the door. The door doesn't have any room behind it. Instead, it was something akin to a portal, a portal in which Satria often saw in a movie or video game. Viviane took a step and jumped into the portal. Satria, without a hint of hesitation, follows her from behind and jumps into the portal.

WHIZZ~.

The two of them now arrived in a room. A room with a lot of strange things around. At the center of the room, there is a giant crystal. The crystal is covered in strange symbols, the same symbols that engraved the steel door. There are three golden rings with patterns hovering and surrounding the crystal. 

Viviane walked past the giant crystal and went into a room. It was small, the size is just enough for both of them. As Satria entered the room, Viviane waved her hands in a particular way. A blue blinding light suddenly envelops the two of them. 

Startled, Satria closes his eyes, reacting to the blinding light.

After a while, the blinding light subsides. Satria could also sense it but hesitated whether he could open his eyes or not.

"You can open your eyes now." Viviane said.

At Viviane's words, Satria opens his eyes and rubs it with his hands. They are now in a room full of books. It's like a library or reading room with a single desk in it. Viviane waved her hand once again. Now, there is a chair, two couches and a table floating in the air. With the second hand wave, the couches, chair and the table arrange themselves in a neat way.

Two couches have been placed onto the floor, and they're set up so that they directly face each other, with a table in between. Beside the table, there is a chair, and it's resting quite nicely. It even has a nice red pillow.

"Now, we can talk comfortably."

Viviane said as she walked to the couch.

*

A fresh and sweet air flows into the room from a big window that is now wide open. A silvery white bird who is cleaning its wing, sits comfortably in a chair. The red pillow underneath seems about to swallow her, as she was moving nonstop. Her head tucked inside her wing, moving around as she tends it. 

Viviane who seems to get addicted to her tea, sipping it with her eyes closed. Satria sits in silence, enjoying the sweet and rose flavored cookies in his hand.

"The earth," Viviane broke the silence, "It wasn't always like how you know it."

"..."

"There once was magic on earth. Once."

Viviane put her cup on the table and crossed her arms.

"Mehrunse, who also built this tower, along with his companions, the Aerithans, separated the magic from earth to another planet, Contraria."

"Contraria?"

"The Contraria, you could say it's a planet that is similar to Earth, a planet that's able to support life."

Viviane paused, she waved her hands and a book suddenly flew towards her. She catches the book mid air. 

"This book contains a recorded history about what happened back then."

Satria takes a glance at the book, it has nothing on its cover, just a plain dark brown cover with no writing nor symbol. The book also looks old and worn out.

"According to this book, the Aerithans, who are fed up with human's greed and continuous destruction, decided to separate the magic for good."

'Magic, huh.' Satria thought to himself. 

It surely wasn't magic that he knew of. The one that you trick people for entertainment.

'If it's magic like the one in a fantasy, then it's imaginable.'

Satria recalled everything that had happened. The strange room, floor with strange symbols, a nerve calming yet painful tea, snap that can reveal hidden scenery, a giant floating castle. It all starts to make sense now. It was all possible because of magic, probably.

"The human, who waged war with magic, almost caused Earth to ruin, making it almost unhabitable."

"..."

"The Aerithans, who at the time, were the most advanced civilizations discovered Contraria."

Viviane opens up the book. She put the book nicely onto her lap, flipping the page one by one and chose to read a particular page. She reads content aloud so Satria could also hear it.

"I, upon discovering a new celestial orb, thought, this is the ideal plane for the magic to thrive."

Viviane flipped the page and read the next sentence.

"I named it Contraria, a celestial orb, in contra-position to Earth."

She closed the book. Viviane waved her hand. The book went to where it was before.

"Just as the Mehrunse said, the Aerithans began formulating a plan on how to move mana or magic power from Earth to Contraria."

Satria silently listens to Viviane's story. It wasn't something he expected to hear.

'A planet in contra-position to Earth?'

Satria thought to himself. It was quite absurd to understand, but he didn't dare to tell her to stop. Instead, he leans his body forward and clasps his hands, looking all serious.

"It was quite a good plan, the only problem is that the planet is quite far; no it was too far."

"..."

"The Contraria, even though it shares the same orbit as the Earth, it was on the direct opposite of the Earth, so directly sending the mana to Contraria was impossible. Not to mention, the mana could be scattered across the space if something goes wrong."

Viviane reaches her hand at Satria's cup, drags the cup and places it in the middle of the table.

"So, the Aerithans came up with a solution to prevent the mana from scattering and safely reaching Contraria."

Viviane then picked up a sugar cube, placing it near Satria's cup.

"If it's too far, then how about just take the mana, put it in some kind of safe container and move it into Contraria?"

Viviane began to drag the cube across the table. She deliberately drags the cube in a circular way, mimicking how a planet orbiting the sun.

"That way, the mana could be transferred safely and without any interference."

Viviane picks the cube and puts it into her tea.

"That was what this tower was for; a container to safely transfer mana into Contraria."

Dumbfounded, Satria could only stare at Viviane. 

"After that, the mana which settled down in Contraria, began evolving the planet, creating the first ever living thing, a singular living cell."

Viviane stirs her tea and starts sipping it. 

There was a brief silence between them. Satria who was quietly listening to Viviane can't contain his curiosity. He wants to ask her a question when she suddenly continues her story.

"It was good for a few million years," Viviane continued, "but the problems have yet to arrive."

"..."

"The magic power, far from its original source, started to corrupt."

Viviane puts her cup back and sighs. She seemed to be deep in thought. She waved her hand and another book flew towards her. 

"This book is akin to a journal."

Satria looked at the book closely. The book seemed to be in better condition than the last book. This time she didn't catch it, it was just floating above her. 

"This was my Master Journal, it contains the records of what happened in the past million years."

Satria flinched. A million years of records is not something you could find anywhere on earth. Even historians would find it hard to believe as it's too absurd. Nevertheless, it seems Viviane isn't joking around.

'But we were talking about magic, so it's probably possible.'

Satria begins to drink his tea, not because he is thirsty, but because he tries to calm himself down.

"Thanks to magic, time flows differently here in Avalon, so a record like this is possible."

'I knew it.' Satria thought.

"My master, who spends his life here, began to summarize any major events that are happening in Contraria and write it into this book."

Viviane put the book where it was. The white bird, who seemed to be bored with all this talk, made a big yawn.

"So, your master is alive for a million years?" 

Satria, who could not hold back his curiosity, spoke suddenly. Even he himself was surprised that he did that. Nevertheless, he said it.

"Oh no, not that," Viviane startled, she doesn't expect Satria to ask her that.

"My master lived in Avalon for over a thousand years. He just summarized the records of his predecessors."

'It's way more logical for humans to live for a thousand years rather than a million; or not?' Satria mutered.

"Huhu, it is quite hard to imagine, isn't it?" Viviane giggles, "I too don't believe it at first."

Satria blushed in embarrassment. It seems Viviane could hear what he had said to himself.

"Well, I too, had lived for almost a thousand years."

Viviane smiled, leaving the dumbfounded Satria on his own.