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The Guardians- Chapter 2 (247 hits)

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Rating: 0.75 on 6 reviews (Rate this item) (V)

Submitted by frankthebear (View user info) at 2007-07-12 13:38:14 EDT

The Guardians- Chapter 2

For 75 years, David took James on a landmark tour of the known galaxy. Sometimes these worlds and places were barely more than a brief glimpse before moving on to the next location, but every brief glimpse was etched into James' strange new mind. With perfect recall, James could picture every detail of every strange and extraordinary world David brought him to.

Now David had finished the preliminary tour of the places James would need to be able to find, so they had settled on a small moon in orbit around a dead planet that had once been an intergalactic way station. They had been sitting facing each other for months, speaking in their minds since the lack of air made verbal communication impossible.

>so tell me what we're waiting for?< James thought.

>we're waiting for the Gift to tell us where we're needed next.< Answered David.

>does this usually take long?<

>it can.<

>and there's nothing we can do in the meantime?<

>what do you have in mind?<

>tell me more about being a Guardian.<

>all right, what would you like to know?<

>well when we first met, you said our official title would be "Guardian of Time and Space."<

>i did, what of it?<

>well you also said the universe was governed by three forces: Time, Space, and Dimension. aren't we supposed to take care of Dimension too?<

>an astute observation. the three forces have different aspects: Time is active, and Space is passive, but Dimension is neutral. it's the one force that doesn't need looking after, but, like the other two, it cannot exist if the with the other two isn't maintained.<

>so we preserve Dimension by regulating Time and Space?<

>exactly. like good and evil, Time, Space, and Dimension must come in equal shares or the balance is disrupted.<

>and then what?<

>anarchy, armageddon, oblivion.<

>in other words, it'll be bad.<

>in other words. did you have any other questions?<

>only about a million.<

>well ask away. as you are no doubt beginning to understand, time is on our side.<

And for the next six months, James asked question after question, and David answered them all with infinite patience. And when James' questions finally dried up, David began instructing him in all manner of things. It only took about an hour to teach James everything there was to know about astrophysics, teachings that would have taken a mortal scientist decades to understand, possibly at the cost of his sanity.

David told James about Black Holes, and what could be found on the other side. He told the life story of whole star systems, and amazing tales of some of the strange people who came from them, and where they could be found now.

David told James about a library that housed some three billion books written in every language that ever existed, and that one day the two of them would go there for James to read them all.

David told James about the other Guardians, some scant hundreds who had accumulated a collective age of six or seven times the age of Time itself. And he told of the Renegades, Guardians who forswore their vows and used the Gift to accelerate Entropy: the death of all existence.

>how could the Renegades have been allowed to break their vows?<

David gave a mental sigh. >in all people, no matter what they swear, no matter what they're meant to be, free will is irrevocable. i told you about this before. the Renegades chose to accept the Gift of their own free will, and they retained the ability to choose to forsake their vow to serve the universe. it then falls on us true Guardians to keep them in check, as well as see to our duties.<

>are they dangerous?<

>extremely. but so are we, in our own way. we poses the power to move whole galaxies. we can move though time as easily as taking a breath of air, but so do the Renegades. but the Renegades are only part of the problem.

>there are also the Fallen: the unfortunate few Guardians who weren't able to adapt to the Gift. they have gone quite mad, and are to be pitied, even though they are the most dangerous.<

>how are they more dangerous than the Renegades?<

>the Renegades understand what they are doing, and when they do wrong, they do so with logic, however twisted it might have become; the Fallen do whatever they want without a second thought for the consequences, often resulting in the deaths of millions of innocent lives.<

James spent a few weeks considering the implications of these two other factions of Guardians. Already Time was starting to move faster for him, and when he stopped to consider it, he found he wasn't too concerned about it. It was just NBD: no big deal.

That's what it all came to in the end. He still found himself thinking about his old mortal interests and worries, only now he looked at them with a detached air of indifference. Everything he used to think was so important was now just no big deal.

James realized (without knowing how) that this was all part of becoming a Guardian. All the advanced sciences and mathematics David taught to him were neatly filed away in his infinitely expanding memory. Gradually the immortality would come to completely change his outlook on life. But it was no big deal.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

>so you've showed me how to Move through Space, when do I get to learn how to Move through Time?<

>when you're ready.<

>well when will i be ready?<

>when you can Move without my guidance.<

>and when will i be ready for that?<

>that's entirely up to you. you haven't even tried it yet.<

>well then i'm going to try now!<

>very good! i was waiting for you to make up your mind to do something. Where would you like to go?<

>i suppose i'd like to go home first, just to see what's been going on while i've been sitting on this rock.<

>very well then. remember how we did it before. picture in your mind where you want to be, then be there.<

James closed his eyes and brought up an image of the park where he first met David. For a moment he had considered going back to his apartment, but then he realized someone else would probably be living there by now.

So he thought about the park. He thought about how green the grass was, the sound of the wind sighing through the drooping boughs of the willow tree. He dimly realized he could almost feel the wind, could almost smell the newly cut grass, could-

James opened his eyes and found himself in the park, David only a few paces away looking pleased.

"Well done James! Not only did you Move where you wanted on the first try, you also Moved back through Time to the day when we first met."

"I-I Moved in Time?"

"Yes indeed! See? There you are now!" David pointed over to the front gate of the park, and the figure of James' mortal self, pedaling his bike to his favorite reading spot under the tree. James could also see a ghostly image of David floating silently behind the mortal James.

"Is that you following me there?"

"Yes. In that way, I followed you around since you were about two years old."

"It's funny I never noticed you bef-" James stopped dumbfounded. He turned to look at David closely. "I DID notice you before! I remember having an imaginary friend when I was around three or four! I called you..."

"You called me Mr. There. I allowed you to see me because I knew you were lonely." David said this with a small, sad smile.

"You were real." James said, feeling a strange surge of emotions. "You were always there by my side when I really needed someone. And even when I couldn't see you any more, you were still by my side, weren't you?"

"Yes James, I was always there. Remember that time you were walking to school in the third grade and those bigger kids were chasing you?"

"I do. I ran down an alley and hid behind a dumpster."

"Those kids knew you were there, but I gave them an illusion of some very large dogs."

"I don't know what to say..." James was touched. Here was the man who was his mentor and guide, but also a lifelong friend he never knew he had.

"Don't say anything now. Here you come. Let me teach you another trick." James felt David's thought gently reaching for his mind. He relaxed and let it in. In seconds David conveyed to James how to Fade, to seem invisible to everyone but animals and small children.

James and David then stood quietly by and watched the mortal James park his bike, sit under the tree, and wave to a couple of young ladies who were jogging by.

>it's strange seeing myself like this.<

>strange like seeing your self as an old man?<

>no. yes. i'm not sure. Perhaps there aren't any words to describe what i'm feeling right now.<

>what if i told you there was a world that DID have the language to express what humans can't?<

>can we go there?<

>my dear friend, we are Guardians, we can do anything!<

David gave James an image of a city of crystalline towers under a red sky. James smiled as he and David Moved. Whatever had happened in the past, the future held a great adventure, and James had all eternity to discover it.

User Reviews

Submitted by lover101 (user info) at 2007-07-12 14:07:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1

ok, I get the quotation thing, i was only joking about the zombie thing.

Submitted by frankthebear (user info) at 2007-07-12 13:58:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0

Submitted by lover101 (user info) at 2007-07-12 13:53:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1

should have used quotation marks

i see what you meant when you said you needed ideas. i can see this going nowhere. i say you give this up and write about zombies.
________________________________________

I deliberately didn't use quotation marks to imply the mental communication. And I'm avoiding writing about zombies because I just started getting in to Marvel Zombies and I'll probably come out with something too much like it

Submitted by The_Drake (user info) at 2007-07-12 13:53:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2

Didnt read it, but you're not the only one I do that to.

Submitted by lover101 (user info) at 2007-07-12 13:53:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1

should have used quotation marks

i see what you meant when you said you needed ideas. i can see this going nowhere. i say you give this up and write about zombies.

Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2007-07-12 13:50:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2

i didn't read this, but neither did the guy who bashed you in the first review. not in a little over a minute he didn't anyway.

Submitted by storm (user info) at 2007-07-12 13:39:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2

Guardians Vol. 2 auto +2.