(Previously on Immortal Wars.)

(Again, we shall revel in my teenage originality.  Everyone groan in unison.)

Disclaimer: Immortal Wars was the book I came up with and wrote in high school.  I hadn’t even hit college by the time I wrote the first two books.  That means I hadn’t developed my style yet, wasn’t good at self-editing, and the story was fairly basic. So, you’ve been warned that this is the ultimate author throwback segment for my blog and will show my author origins.  FYI-  I put the first book (The Summoning) through a Print-on-Demand publisher and the second one (Light, Blood, & Tears) never saw the light of day.  Enjoy!

“I really do not understand these actions.  Why do you let yourself get injured to the point of exhaustion before fighting back?  It makes no sense,” mentions SEAS.  Fate is busy getting slashed and kicked by a hologram with swords for arms.  The Mars guardian’s clothing is practically shredded down to his underwear.  He stops and catches one of the swords in his left hand, which causes blood to trickle down his arm.

“Don’t worry, SEAS.  I’m done,” mutters Fate before he throws the hologram into the wall.  It disappears on impact and Fate slumps against the door to the restaurant section.

“What is wrong, Fate?  I know about what happened between you and everyone else.  It shouldn’t get to you.”

“Everyone thought I was over-reacting to what I found out.  Solix is not telling me the truth.   How can I not let it get to me?  I have never had anything stable in my life since I was five years old.  Then I was adopted when I hit eight and I met Kelly.  My life was actually something of worth,” replies Fate.

“Then explain the criminal activity.”

“That was just me having fun.  It’s weird.  Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been more athletic and luckier than all other kids.  Well, luckier in the sense that I could never get caught at any of my pranks.  Right now, the only thing I can think of is that my powers were around earlier.  Is that possible, SEAS?”  Fate suddenly looks up to see a hologram standing in the middle of the room.  Everything about it looks humanoid except for the serious head of a Doberman.

“I cannot tell you anything because of Solix’s current program changes.  But he did not say I could not show you to someone who could answer your questions.  This is the original Mars Guardian.  Just call him Mars.  I will leave you two alone,” says SEAS.  The hologram slowly strides over to Fate and stands there looking at him with neon green eyes.

“This is foolish.  It’s only a hologram.  A hologram cannot answer the questions that I have.  Only SEAS and Solix can do that,” says Fate.  He throws a kick at the hologram and is suddenly off the ground and hanging up side down.  The hologram lifts him up, so that their faces are almost touching.

“Not all holograms are what you think they are.  I am the original guardian of Mars.  During the fight with our enemies, I fell into the main generator of SEAS.  This destroyed my body completely and turned me into a holographic program.  I could only live inside the computer system and watch as Solix mourned and made plans as usual.  He has not changed over the past few centuries.  Now, what questions do you have?” questions the hologram.  He tosses Fate into the air and the young immortal lands on his feet.

“This is impossible,” says Fate.  He throws a punch at the hologram, but it never connects with its target.  He feels a sharp pain on the top of his head and realizes that the hologram just slapped him on the top of the head.  He makes a spinning back kick, which is caught by the hologram.  Fate is flipped onto his back and all of the air is knocked out of his lungs.  The hologram slips his foot underneath Fate’s back and kicks him up into the air like he was a soccer ball.  Fate manages to land in a crouch and eyes the hologram very cautiously.

“You fight well for an novice.  But I am only here to answer questions.  So, what questions do you have?  Ask me now or I will leave,” says the hologram as it crosses its muscular arms.

“I don’t know.  There are so many questions that I want answers to.  I guess this is the first one.  Why should I keep going with this fight if I am nothing but a pawn?  Is there any point in staying here?” asks Fate.

“Solix and the rest of us had to fight because that was our only reason for being created by the Glebnoks.  We did not have a choice.  But I am not one to tell you why you should stay with Solix.  We never got along because I didn’t follow orders.  He was just as conniving and a lying bastard like he is now.  But I would suggest that you stay for several reasons.  One is that someone has to stay here and get under the old man’s skin.  He needs someone around to keep his ego from suffocating the cosmos.  Just don’t let the old man’s personality get to you, boy.  After awhile, you get used to it and find ways of getting around it.”

“Easier said than done.  Any better reasons besides just to spite Solix.  Because I think he wants me to stay.”  Fate hits a button on the wall and the arena turns into a large forest with a lake nearby.  They both walk over to the lake and lean against two trees.  The hologram scratches himself behind his ear and takes a minute to think about an answer.

“You are a special creature.  Like many races, there are even higher versions of immortals.  At least there might be.  Something about you is special and that will give you an edge against other warriors.  Unlike the others, your birthright powers have been around for a very long time.  The reason you are naturally more athletic and are luckier than everyone else is because your powers have never been dormant.  SEAS has not been able to explain it and Solix has not even been made aware of it.  That is until SEAS tells him within the next few minutes.  To sum everything up, you are a more powerful version of what the original immortals were.  You are to Solix what a human is to a monkey.  Now, do you have any other questions that do not deal with me making choices for you?”

“What happened to the weapons?  All of you had magical weapons, but only Solix managed to keep his.  They should be somewhere on this base.”

“If only it was that easy.  After the evil immortals destroyed us, they took our weapons for themselves.  And in order to use Solix’s magic weapon, you must be the leader of the planet guardians.  Look.  I have to get going.  Just try to confront Solix because he has hidden a lot of information from most of the computer systems.”  The hologram fades away as Fate walks out of the arena.  He barely notices a quick shadow darting out of the room and down the hallway.  As he comes to the wall, Fate finds a pink flower on the floor.

“At least I still have one thing left of my old life.  Now, I think it’s time I got into Solix’s face again and got some real answers.  I just got to remember to stay out of the sun this time around.  This should be interesting,” thinks Fate as he drops the flower and runs up to the Main Hall.  The delicate flower disappears once it hits the ground and Miracle walks out of the shadows smiling.