Chapter 2: The Aswer 

 

So this is how it begins…

 

I’m sure you must be very confused…but I know that you won’t give up, I know that you’ll make your own path…

 

The events of last night must leave a  very strong impression on your mind, but try not to give importance to the bad, and always look for the good.

 

Julian…

 

You…t…we…ie…thi…self…

 

The first thing Julian saw when his eyes popped open was the familiar view of his own room.  The last night had been a whirl of incomplete images, fragments of memories without any real rhyme or reason.  All he could clearly remember was…the prism…

 

The prism.  Julian sat up on his bed and checked for his prism, scanning his room and digging in his pocket, as he still wore the clothing he did last night.  After some searching, he found the silvery object lying on his night table.  He gently picked it up and looked it over, more carefully than when he first got it.  It was silver-colored, true, but much too light for it to be silver, and it seemed to be hollow, although Julian couldn’t find anyplace where the hole could have been sealed.  There were several small engravings on its rectangular sides, resembling maybe a bunch of circuits.  On one of the triangular ends was engraved, very finely, a symbol.  It seemed Chinese, but it definitely wasn’t any language he could know or identify.  As he tossed it around with his hands he realized that it was glowing slightly.  He tossed it high into the air, and as it twirled Julian’s eyes widened and, upon catching it again, the entirety of the events of the Cosmos Festival slammed back into his mind.

 

The shadow…the meteor shower…Ana…Chris… “…this meteor shower didn’t even begin to occur until after…”…the prism, the glowing…the shadow…Get away!!

 

Julian held the prism in his hand, then very slowly began focusing on it.  He let it droop, held up only by his fingers, then he began releasing them one by one, until only his thumb and forefinger were holding the prism.  Then, very slowly, he let go, and the prism floated, all by itself…then suddenly he let the prism drop and he lost his focus. “C-come in, Mom.” He stuttered, then quickly hid the prism.  His mother opened the door, but didn’t come in.  She seemed somehow…surprised, maybe confused or shocked.  It was then that Julian realized that his mother hadn’t even knocked on the door…he sensed his mother coming from outside…

 

“Wh-what’s wrong, Mom?” Julian let a bead of cold sweat drop onto his hand as his mother regained composture. “Umm…your friend from the Chateau…Ana. She called. She says she wants to speak to you very urgently.” Julian nodded. “Yeah. Um, Mom?” His mother came and sat on his bed. “Yes, dear?”

 

“Did you…see what happened last night?”

 

“…yes. Bu-but, I wouldn’t worry. I’ll always love you no matter what, honey.” Julian smiled. “Thanks mom.”

 

 

The Snowman Chateau was a huge building located on the outskirts of Snowman.  It resembled a gothic church more than it did a house, with stone walls, stained glass windows and large, pointed doorways.  The place seemed almost menacing, it looked like the kind of place where people used to be imprisoned.  Or maybe it was just a monastery.

 

Julian pulled on the huge bronze knocker and let it fall, clanking against the door with a large boom.  Seconds later, the door opened to reveal the slender form of Ana, who stood dwarfed against the huge door. “I’ve been waiting, Julian.” She said. “Please, come in.”

 

Julian and Ana sat alone in a large banquet room, on one end of the long table where Julian surmised Ana dined every day.  They were drinking tea.  Ana, who usually radiated happiness and good cheer, stood solemn, looking down at he cup, while Julian sipped on his tea silently.  Ana sighed. “I’m sure you must have a lot of questions.” Julian nodded. “Yeah. I guess I have too many.” Ana smiled weakly. “Then I guess I’ll have to explain from the beginning.”

 

 

“I already told you that the meteor shower that occurs every summer solstice has only been in existence for five years.  I didn’t think there was anything wrong, but what happened last night confirms that what caused the meteor shower was not of this Earth.

 

Almost ninety years ago, a young couple was abducted by aliens somewhere near Podunk.  The man was called George, the woman Marie.  Three years later, George reappeared mysteriously. Marie was nowhere to be found.  After his return, George retreated to the summit of Mt. Itoi and set up a strange research center there. 

 

Eighty years later, a boy by the name of Ninten suffered a poltergeist in his small house in Podunk.  After it stopped, he received a phone call from his father, who confessed that the poltergeist was the effect of an evil alien named Giegue.  He also revealed that his great-grandfather, George, had a strong connection with Giegue, and that his great-grandmother, Marie, disappeared because of him. So Ninten set out to find the truth about the affair and stop Giegue.

 

As it turns out, Giegue was raised by George and Marie. But the song Marie would sing to him made him lose his mind, so he split the song up into eight notes and sealed Marie in the realm of Magicant, where she became their sovereign, Queen Mary.  After Ninten regained the eight notes and visiting the Mt. Itoi research center, he utilized the song to defeat Giegue and cast him away. He did this with the help of three friends.  The first was a young boy genius named Loid. The other was the old leader of the B.S. Gang in Ellay, a man named Teddy. The third…was me.”

 

Julian noticed a tear drop from Ana’s eye and onto the table, leaving a dark splotch on the light brown wood.  Was that tear sadness? Or maybe just nostalgia? Julian didn’t get the chance to ask as Ana continued.

 

“When George and Marie were abducted, and when Marie was cast into Magicant, George stole a very special type of technology from the aliens…an intangible force that allowed humans to perform wondrous feats of power…that technology was called PSI.”

 

Julian had a brief flashback of himself levitating the silhouette and hurling it away. “What I did last night,” he began. “was that thing, PSI?” Ana nodded solemnly. “Yes. The research center on Mt. Itoi was built to study PSI. No one knows how or why he stole it, but he seemed to have only the best interests of mankind at heart.”

 

Julian paused and looked at Ana. “Do…do you have PSI?” Ana smiled and nodded. “Yes. I do. My powers allowed me to call to Ninten psychically and bring him here.” Another tear dropped as Ana caressed her bonnet.  Julian sighed and slinked back into his chair. “So…what about this stone? My prism?” Ana shook her head. “I don’t know. But I can guess that it was responsible for awakening your powers last night. And I also know that the trigger was the meteor shower. I…”

 

Ana broke off suddenly and clasped her head in her hands, her eyes bulging and her body trembling. “They…they’re here…no!” She shot up like lightning and ran for the door. “I have to stop them!” She then left the chateau and its guest.  Julian, who had barely understood the scene, shot up and followed her without a word.

 

 

Once again, downtown Snowman found itself the victim of an attack by an unknown force.  It was what appeared to be a robot universally known as the Starman, an alien killing machine with superhuman strength.  It was programmed with the one objective of destroying any and everything in sight, using both it’s strength and its enhanced beam attacks.  There was nothing anyone could do as the Starman rampaged through the town, obliterating any resistance it encountered, apparently with no other objective besides mindless destruction.

 

As Julian ran up to the Starman he saw Ana standing in it’s way.  She seemed to be in fierce combat with it, dodging the beams it threw and calling forth what seemed to be a shower of lightning bolts out of thin air.  She gracefully and expertly dodged another beam and sent forth a blast of icy wind, the PSI spell known as PK Freeze.  The Starman took it full in the chest and sprawled backwards, but showed no signs of relenting. 

 

Eventually, Ana faltered and caught a beam to the arm, sending her flying to the ground.  Clearly, the Starman had the upper hand, and Ana was unable to keep up with it.  She scrambled backwards as the Starman advanced on her, frantically kicking the ground with her legs as the robot reached her.  Julian, who had witnessed this from the side, saw the situation and gasped. “Ana!” He cried. “No!!”

 

Suddenly Julian felt another surge of energy run through his head.  Unlike the first, however, it wasn’t painful, but rather a cool, gentle sensation that felt like a cool breeze.  As if by themselves, his hands shot out and blasted forth a beam of energy, knocking the Starman away seconds before he could reach Ana.

 

The Starman reeled.  It’s artificial intelligence program dictated that any threat must be eliminated, so it turned to face Julian, who still stood there, panting.  The Starman launched a beam, but, before it could reach it’s target, a greenish dome of energy swirled around Julian, shielding him and deflecting the beam.  Julian dropped his hands and placed them to his temples, then called to Ana. “Cover your eyes!” Ana did so and Julian began concentrating. “PK Flash!” he called as a dazzling flash of light shorted out the Starman’s visual unit and left him paralyzed, electricity crackling through its body.  Instantly, Julian closed his eyes and began to concentrate.  Then, slowly, a large green character flashed into existence in front of him.  It was flat, floating in mid air.  It resembled the writing on Julian’s prism, and had a large circle in the center.  This circle began glowing as tiny photons swirled around the center circle and were sucked into the circle.  When the circle was fully charged, Julian opened his eyes and focused on the Starman.

 

“PK Aswer!” The circle released the energy within and a huge beam of energy shot forth, completely enveloping the Starman, along with some buildings and cars behind it.  When the beam subsided, the Starman was left as a pile of junk, no longer the ruthless killer it used to be.

 

Julian ran over to check on Ana, who was reclining against a nearby lamp post and clutching her arm. “Ana! Ana!” he called as he rushed over to her and helped her up. “Are you okay?” Ana waved him off and stood up, brushing herself off. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She said.  She looked Julian over and frowned. “You can use three PSI powers now, you know.” She mused. “PK Flash, PSI Shield, and…that other one you came up with…” Julian paused, then called up the strange character from before, the Aswer, so that it was just a fraction of the size, floating on his palm.  Julian stared at it and sighed. “It’s almost…as if I already knew how to do it…as if I already knew it was there.”

 

Ana put a hand on his shoulder. “I think you should go get some rest. I have a feeling you’re going to need it.” Julian nodded, and the two left in different directions, mulling the events of the day over in their heads.