THE Story, part 2

[HowAreYaBud]

Welp, I've decided to make THE Story into a trilogy. So here it is, part 2.

THE Story, Part 2

Prologue

What is the meaning of life? That is the question I've been wondering since I was a young boy. Why are we born? We eventually die anyway, right? I ask many people this question every day, but I still haven't found the answer. The scholars at Irana all say that I'll do something great when I'm older. But how can I do anything truly great when humans have such short lives? There are many tales of men seeking immortality, but they're all fiction. At least that's what the scholars tell me. But I believe it's true. I'll find a way to become immortal.

[Shuuda]

Perhaps you should have given some proper closure to the first part before you started on the second. As it stands now, the first part just comes to a halt once the battle is over.

[HowAreYaBud]

I"m working on it <_<

[xanatha]

Sounds like an exciting and good beginning of a story. I look forward to read it!

[HowAreYaBud]

Chapter 1

"Luxord! Banjo!" The scholar called to us as he ran. "Stop right this INSTANT!" As he got closer, I realized who he was. He was Mr. Burkhardt, the strictest scholar in Irana. He looked hilarious when he ran, his arms flailing all around.

"Oh man, we gotta get outta here!" Luxord told me. "If he catches us, we could get expelled!" I nodded in his direction, turned around, and ran. I had no idea that sliding down stairs was so bad.

"I said, STOP!" Mr. Burkhardt yelled at us, even louder this time. I sped up, Luxord following close behind. We ran through the halls, students staring at us as we did, until we reached our room. We quickly got in, slammed the door, and locked it.

"Phew!" Luxord sighed. "I thought we were dead meat!" I had to admit, I did too.

"But what's so bad about sliding down the stairs?" I just didn't understand that.

Luxord replied, "I'm not sure, but I think it has to do with safety."

"Safety?"

"Yeah, safety. They don't want us killing ourselves."

"Oh." That answer satisfied me. I walked over to my bed and fell onto it. Then I heard a knock on our door. Luxord opened the door, and Matt, a good friend of mine, was standing there.

I'll finish this chap later.

UPDATE!

post all feedback on the feedback thread from now on.

Edited December 21, 2008 by Haseo: Terror of Death

[HowAreYaBud]

"What just happened?" He asked.

Luxord answered, "Well, me and Banjo slid down a staircase, and Mr. Burkhardt caught us."

"I didn't think sliding down stairs was that bad..."

"Neither did I!" I called to Matt from the bed. I got up and walked over to the door. After pushing Luxord and Matt out of the way, I walked out.

"Where are you headed?" Luxord questioned.

"The library."

Matt looked surprised. "You sure have been going to the library a lot. I suppose it's the meaning of life thing again?"

"You got it." I began walking faster. They were starting to annoy me.

The library was on the 3rd floor, 2 floors above where my room is. After walking for a bit, I reached the first set of stairs. There were 3 boys standing in front of the stairs, all older than me. The one in the middle was tall and muscular, with short blond hair. The left one was surprisingly short. He looked the weakest out of the three. He had long black hair. The third one, on the right, wasn't much taller than me. He didn't look as strong as the middle one. He had brown hair that came down to almost his waist. I was surprised that the scholars didn't yell at him for having that long hair. Some more of Shuuda's goons, I thought. I walked up to the stairs, tried to go up them, and was stopped by the boys. The one in the middle pushed me back.

"You ain't goin' nowhere!" His voice was deep, and he sounded like a total idiot. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Steve!" The one on the left exclaimed with a high voice, "'e didn't just laugh at ya, did 'e?"

"I think 'e did!" He was almost yelling now.

"Uh, maybe we should, uh, teach 'im a lesson!" The one on the right sounded even stupider than Steve.

"Right you are, Maurice!" Steve shouted. Maurice? Ha! The trio slowly walked towards me, as I backed away. I could handle one of them, but three? No way. Eventually I hit a dead end. I was doomed now. Unless Matt and Luxord came, there would be no way I'd get outta here with anything less than a concussion.

[HowAreYaBud]

Chapter 2

"Hehehe..." Steve chuckled quietly. "Yer in fer a WORLD of hurt!"

"We'll see about that..." I whispered to myself. Steve suddenly dove, trying to catch me. I jumped on his head and landed behind him. Maurice quickly turned around and punched me in the stomach before I got a chance to run. I started to feel nauseous and lightheaded. I could feel my consciousness slipping away. I could hear the thee idiots laughing at me as I barfed all over the floor. I fell to the ground. I thought I was a goner, but something extremely lucky happened.

"HEY!" A voice screamed. It sounded like...like Mr. Bernese. Mr. Bernese was the one scholar that actually didn't hate me. Those three were gonna get it now. "What are you three doing to Banjo?!"

Maurice looked terrified. "Uh..."

"W-we were j-just...y-y'know, h-hangin' out..." Steve stuttered. The small one suddenly started running away, but Shuuda, who was standing at the end of the hall, stopped him.

Shuuda smirked. "I THOUGHT I told you to fetch me a meal!" Shuuda was one of the "bad people." He had a ton of people, small and large, at his disposal. Looks like I was right. They WERE Shuuda's goons.

Mr. Bernese got angry. "Shuuda, these boys are NOT your slaves! If you want food, go get it yourself!"

"Yeah, whatever." There were only two people Shuuda was afraid of. Those two people were Mr. Burkhardt, and Mr. Bernese. They were the two strictest scholars in Irana. Usually Shuuda wouldn't listen to anybody, but when it came to those two, he would do what they told him without even a single complaint.

Mr. Bernese shot an evil look at Shuuda's goons. They looked like they were about to die of fear, and they ran off. Phew. I was saved.

Mr. Bernese walked over to me. "Banjo, do you need to go to the infirmary?!"

"I...I..." And that's when I lost consciousness.

[HowAreYaBud]

"Do you wish to become immortal?" I heard a voice say to me. I couldn't tell who it was, it was really faint. I could barely make out what it was saying.

"I...I do..." I replied, sleepily. A bright light appeared in the distance, and I began to slowly walk towards it. It got brighter and brighter, until it was so bright that I had to look away. But I kept walking. I wanted to stop walking, but my body forced me to keep going. I don't know what it was, but it was as if an invisible force was pulling me towards the light until I was standing right next to it. It grew dim, and I could see what was shining.

It was a book.

A single book, sitting...er, floating in front of me. The cover was extremely old, like someone had beaten it with a bat. The pages were falling out, and the letters were faded. At the top of the book, there were 10 strange characters. They were DEFINITELY not of the English language.

That would be the title. I guessed. Suddenly, the cover ripped off, and the small amount of pages that were still in it fell out. They were torn apart, no doubt by the same force that drew me towards the light. Suddenly the blackness of the room I was in disappeared, and shelves and shelves of books appeared. The floor turned white, and a bright red carpet spread across it. A couple tables appeared in the corner, with computers on top of them. A wooden desk was near the door, and another computer on it. I knew where I was then. I was in the library of the Academy of Irana. 3 things struck me as odd.

One, I had been knocked out by those three idiots, and I should have been in the infirmary. Two, I was just in that black, empty room with that book, and out of nowhere, the library appeared. And third...

The library was deserted. There wasn't a single person in it besides me, not even the librarian. Then I saw the light again. In the back of the library, in the corner of the smallest bookshelf, a book shined. The light disappeared, and I found out the book was the exact same one I had seen in the black room. The same pages missing, the same title, and the same cover.

Something strange was definitely going on here.

I woke up with a quick shout of fear in the infirmary. It was empty besides me, as usual. The nurse wasn't there, so I quickly got up and walked around a bit. It hurt, a lot.

[HowAreYaBud]

Then I remembered the dream. At least I THINK it was a dream...It felt so real, though. After double-checking for the nurse, I ran up to the library in pain. I headed to the shelf that had the book on it in the dream, and I looked for it. I didn't see any unusual books. Just old Alanyian books, novels, and other stuff.

"Can I help you?" A voice asked me. I jumped and quickly turned around. It was the librarian, Ms. Courtney. She was the type who couldn't get terribly angry at you, and would never raise her voice. The only time she did that was when Shuuda was around.

After a moment of silence, I answered, "Oh, no thanks, I'm just looking."

"Alright then. You can use the computers if you need to." Then she went back to the check-out desk and did whatever librarians did in their spare time. It was Sunday morning, so I didn't have any classes, and I had a little time to myself before a bunch of people started showing up for last minute research and homework. I checked all of the shelves, but the book was nowhere to be found. There was a back room, but Ms. Courtney never let anyone back there, because of people getting into all kinds of mischief back there. Haha, one time she found two students making out, naked, on top of a bookshelf. It was pretty strange.

Maybe if I asked her politely she'd let me in. I walked up to the front desk and asked her.

"Excuse me, Ms. Courtney?"

"Yes, Banjo?" She asked quietly.

"Could I go into the back room real quick and look for something?"

"Well...Couldn't you tell me the title and author so I could go get it for you?"

"Well, um, I don't exactly know what language the title is in, and I don't know the author, so..."

"Well...Alright, you can go. After all, you're one of the few students I can still trust."

"Thank you!" I said quickly and fast-walked to the back room.

There weren't many shelves back here, and most of the books were new orders that came into the library, so I doubted I'd find the book, but it couldn't hurt to try, right? I walked over to the rightmost shelf and I saw a tall girl looking at it. She had a lot of muscle. I could tell just by looking at her quickly that she was really strong. At first I thought it was one of Shuuda's minions, but then I remembered that none of them were girls. I walked next to her and began looking for the book.

"Oh, hi." The girl said.

I muttered back, "Hey." I didn't want any distractions.

"What book are you looking for?"

Oh boy. Here come the questions. "Some book that has a title written in a different language."

"I see..." She suddenly seemed deep in thought.

"Um..." She turned to me again. "Did it look anything like this?" She dug around in her pocket again until she pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper. She flattened it out, and a sketch of the book was on it. It looked like it had been done quickly.

"Yes!" I shouted in surprise. "That's exactly it!" Then I realized I had shouted louder than I thought. The librarian came in the back room.

She told me, "Banjo...I can't even trust you anymore..." She solemnly pointed to the door, and I slowly walked out. I knew she wanted me out of her library for shouting. I went out into the hall, when the girl I saw stopped me.

"Um, excuse me..."She said quickly and quietly. Her long, blond hair seemed to shimmer in the dim candlelight of the hall. Her skin seemed to light up, as if she was a human candle. Her big, blue eyes shined like a clean lake. She was beautiful.

"Uh..." I was staring at her, and I quickly turned away.

"I'm sorry..." I said.

"About that book you are looking for...Did you hear about it in a dream?" This was starting to get strange.

"Yeah! In a black room, right? With the voice, and the light?"

"Yeah, yeah!" She started to get excited. "And the library suddenly appeared, but it was empty, and..." She stopped.

What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that I remembered that I have to go somewhere. Here..." She scribbled her name and dorm on a piece of paper. "Come to my dorm after school on Tuesday, and knock on my door. We'll talk more then."

"Right." I agreed.

Edited December 23, 2008 by Haseo: Terror of Death

[HowAreYaBud]

Chapter 3

The next morning, a Monday, I woke up at about 6:00 A.M. I still had an hour before my first class, and Luxord was still sleeping, so I went to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast. It was packed today, a lot more than usual. I got a scrambled egg and some orange juice. The cafeteria lady was surprised that I got such a small breakfast, but I was excited about tomorrow, and I didn't feel like eating that much. I scarfed down my egg and juice and walked quickly back to my dorm. Luxord had just gotten up, and he was getting dressed. I got dressed too, and I headed down to my locker to get ready for my first class.

At about 6:50, I headed over to the classroom. First I had Irana history. Most of the time I was just thinking about the girl, that book, and the dream. However, what I DID hear interested me greatly. It was about how the first king of Irana founded the kingdom, and his quest for immortality. I've heard many different versions of this story, but never this one. What interested me was that the thing that helped him on his quest was...

A book. A book that happened to be just like the one I saw in my dream.

After Irana's history, I headed over to my next few classes, which I didn't pay any attention to, and then the cafeteria for the mid-day meal. This time all I got was a glass of some kind of juice. I drunk that really quickly and headed back to my dorm for an hour break before my afternoon classes. Luxord was sitting on his bed. He had probably skipped his classes again. When I talked to him, he told me that he did. That's not the part that got me excited.

"I had this...dream, I suppose, last night...It was about...a book..." He described the book as the same one as the one in MY dream. This was getting too creepy to be a coincidence. "That's why I skipped classes...I couldn't stop thinking about that weird dream." I didn't blame him. After all, I didn't pay any attention in my classes, which was just as bad as skipping them. But when I told him about the girl and my dream, and the history class, he got freaked.

[HowAreYaBud]

Please post comments in the feedback thread.

"But...But..." He babbled. "How does that make sense?! Could it be just a coincidence?"

"I can honestly tell you that I think something more than a mere coincidence is going on here." He was shocked. I could tell.

Luxord left the dorm and went...somewhere. After a while sitting in my dorm, I went to my afternoon classes. They went by quickly. I skipped dinner and headed straight to my dorm to go to sleep. Luxord was already there, sleeping. I had the same dream that night, about the book.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, my first thought was I wonder if that girl and Luxord dreamed it again... I couldn't wait

until after classes. I was going to meet that girl again. I figured I'd take Luxord too, since he had that dream.

All my classes went by extremely quick today. After dinner I realized I didn't know her name or her dorm. And then I remembered that she gave me that paper. I took it out of my pocket in the middle of the hallway. Before I got a chance to look at it, a man rand down the halls and screamed something. I couldn't make it out until he got closer to me.

"RUN! INTRUDER! AN INTRUDER HAS GOTTEN INTO IRANA ACADEMY!" He was shouting at the top of his lungs, and his face was struck with fear. I could tell this wasn't a joke.

"Where is he?" I asked him, my voice calm, even though I was worried.

He answered me after a few moments of thought. "He-He's headed for the library, but do NOT go after him! He's extremely dangerous!" He knew what I was thinking.

I wanted to go after him. I know, crazy idea, but something told me that I needed to go after him.I have no idea what it was. A quiet voice, in the back of my head...

Without thinking, I ran towards the library. I got in, and there was no one there. I guess everyone had already evacuated. Then he walked in. He had long silver hair. He was thin, and his eyes were ice blue. He was wearing black clothes, with pants too long for him. He was about average height, assuming he was at least twenty. He walked towards me. Time suddenly seemed to slow down, almost so that nothing moved, so that I couldn't hear anything.

"Where is the book?" He spoke slowly, his voice fairly deep. Could it be the same book that I was looking for? I didn't know, but I had a feeling it was.

"I don't know. I'm looking for it too." He pushed me down.

"You shall not have it. I MUST find it!" He started to raise his voice now. He headed over to the shelf in the corner. He didn't find what he was looking for, just as I thought. The man headed back towards me. He attempted to pass me, but I blocked him.

"Why do you try to stop me, boy?"

"I need that book. I cannot let you have it." A sword suddenly materialized in the man's hand, and he swung it at me. I quickly jumped back, just barely dodging his attack. This wasn't a fair fight. I didn't have a weapon. But the I heard a voice.

Banjo...You must stop this man... Suddenly long claws burst out of my knuckles.

"AAAH!" I screamed out in terror. What was happening to me?! Even though I had a weapon now, he was still too powerful. He kicked me into a book shelf, knocking it over. A book flew out of it, and landed in front of me, wide open. It was written in a strange language. The words sounded like some sort of spell. Something made me read the words out loud. It felt so strange...I wasn't controlling my body at that point.

A blue light surrounded me, and I screamed out, "ARK NAZAH VUR KADAZ!"

[HowAreYaBud]

Chapter 4

Something shot out of my hands, a yellow light. It went for the man. It almost hit him, but it vaporized in the air in front of him. I turned to look to the left of me, and I saw Luxord holding his hand out, pointing it to the area where the shot disappeared.

"Don't touch him." He commanded me, strangely calm.

"L-Luxord...What's going on?! What was that?! Who am I?! Who is this?!" I was becoming crazy. Then the force took over again. My body charged at the man, and tried stabbing him with my claws. It didn't work. He dodged the attack easily, walking out of the way.

"I said...DON'T HURT HIM!" Luxord screamed at me, and then tackled me. I didn't understand who that man was, and I didn't understand why Luxord was protecting him. I didn't understand what that voice was, or why the claws had appeared. I didn't understand what was controlling my body. I didn't understand a lot of things....I was terrified. I didn't know what to do. I walked on my knees to Luxord's feet. I grabbed his legs.

I asked him, "Why...Why Luxord?! Why are you protecting him?! Who is he?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" His face suddenly looked depressed.

"I promise, I'll explain everything, but...You CANNOT hurt him! Just go back to your dorm! NOW!" I could tell he wasn't joking around. I ran out of the library door to my dorm. But...Something else happened.

Right before I ran out the library, I turned to look at the man. He was standing next to the book that had the strange words. He picked it up, looked at the pages for a minute, and closed it. That's when I saw the cover. The book...It was the one from my dreams. That was the book that I needed.

After a few hours in my dorm, I began to worry about Luxord. My worrying was for nothing though, for he came back an hour later, unscathed.

"Who is he?" I asked solemnly.

He replied quickly. "His name...Is Lucifer. I didn't want you to hurt him because...He's the God of Death."

[HowAreYaBud]

"The...G-God of...Death?!" I repeated in shock.

"Well...He's not the God of Death himself, but it's power resides within the man." I could tell this was definitely serious.

"I...Don't understand..."

"Basically, if he's killed, Death would cease to exist, meaning-" I cut him off.

"No one...Would ever die..." I said with amazement.

He frowned. "Sort of. But...He's after the book."

"I know. He told me."

"No...You don't understand...He's...going to burn it."

"W-WHAT?!" I shouted. I ran out of the dorm and headed for the library. He had the book in his hands when I left, so he more than likely had already burned it but...I could still try.

I ran as fast as I possibly could, with Luxord struggling to keep up. It was a good thing that the academy had been evacuated. I wouldn't get slowed down. When I arrived at the library, I saw that girl - Troy, if I remember - attacking the man.

"TROY!" I yelled as I ran in.

"Huh?" She turned to look at me, which gave Lucifer an opening to attack her. He kicked her across the face. Blood flew out of her mouth, and she screamed, and then fell to the ground. I ran next to her.

"TROY!!"

"Banjo, don't be an idiot! Run!" Luxord called to me from a safe distance.

"Hmph...You came back..Fool. You should've ran while you could." Lucifer tossed the book to the side - I gave a sigh of relief when I saw it - and charged at me. I jumped out of the way and kicked Lucifer's back. He fell to the ground and I put one foot on him. Lucifer chuckled quietly. "You think you've won, don't you?" He looked up at me. "Well, you're WRONG!" He jumped up, knocking my foot off of his back. Troy was near the door with Luxord, watching me and Lucifer fight. I had a chance to grab the book, and that's what I did. I quickly ran over to it and scooped it up, grabbed Luxord and Troy, and ran out the door.

"Woah!" Troy yelled in surprise as I grabbed her.

"Don't struggle." I ran to my dorm and locked the door.

"What the hell?!" Troy was getting angry.

"Look, if I had LEFT you there, you would have died, so be thankful, 'kay?" I sat on the floor and put the book in front of me. "Well, let's check this thing out, shall we?" I opened the book up. The first few pages were written in the same strange language. On about the 5th page, I saw some Alarna - the language that Alanyians and Iranians spoke - words. Troy and Luxord came over to look at it. The page said this:

He who seeks eternal life,

He who seeks a life without death

read the following pages.

You shall become enlightened

and Death shall no longer

touch you.

However

if he who seeks eternal life uses this power wrong

he shall live no longer

for Death shall see his sins

and kill him without hesitation.

And let it be known to he

that reading these pages

poses a threat

of death

and may not grant you

eternal life.

If he who seeks eternal life

still seeks the power within

then turn the pages

and read the ancient texts

I looked at the two of them. "Well?" I know I was prepared to take the risk.

"I'll do whatever it takes to find immortality." Luxord made his decision with no hesitation.

Troy took a minute. "...I'll do it."

"Alright, then let's read it..."

[HowAreYaBud]

What don't you people understand about...

POST IN TEH FREAKIN FEEDBACK TOPIC!

And I can't exactly change the characters just because the members left >_>

Chapter 5

So the remainder of that night was spent reading that book. The words it held were amazing... It told the true story of immortality. We could finally do it. We could finally become immortal. All we had to do was find an ancient relic. The book called it the Fountain of Life. Within the fountain, there was a key. That key was the only thing able to unlock the tower that held the secret of immortality. The only problem is, it didn't tell us what that secret was.

"I can't wait to find out!" Troy shouted enthusiastically.

Luxord looked up from the book. "We have a problem."

I grinned. "It can't be any worse than having to look around the world for a fountain, and within that fountain, a key, and then a tower!"

He frowned and shook his head. "We can't get OUT to look for the fountain." Troy noticed I seemed confused.

"He's right." She punched the ground. "The academy doesn't let students out of the building!"

Oh. That IS a problem. I looked at the last sentance we had read.

Never give up. Never be afraid. There will ALWAYS be a way to get past the trials that life brings you.

The problem is, we had no idea HOW to get past these trials.

"Obviously, we'll have to sneak out." Troy said. I could tell by her tone that she didn't think that was such a good idea. Luxord looked back down to the book and up again. He shook his head and turned towards the small window at the back of the room.

"There's no way we'd be getting out during the day with this many guards. We could try it at night, but they'd probably have even MORE guards." He turned back towards us.

I closed my eyes. "I'd bet all my money that you're right..."