Back in AR 2151, on New Terra still

"H… Hello?" He called, his voice echoing off of invisible walls. "Is anybody there? Where am I?"

Then, a deep voice bellowed. "Stand up my young Xavier." It sounded vaguely familiar.

"Who is it? Who’s there?"

A transparent figure appeared out of no where right in front of Xavier. He jumped a little bit. "Stand up Xavier, stand up."

Then, Xavier’s eyes saw something in the ghost that was very familiar.

"Why do you look like my father?" He asked.

"Huh?" The ghost was surprised. "No, I’m not related to your father. I’m your mother’s Great-great, great-great… Well just call me your grandfather."

"Oh, okay," Xavier said. Although, he thought the ghost was joking, and he still thought that the ghost was related to his father.

"Now, stand up."

Xavier slowly stood up, unsure of his footing. After a moment, the cylinder-shaped chamber Xavier was in flooded with wavy blue light. Xavier himself was standing on a path going to an altar with a glowing red crystal floating atop of it, slowly rotating. He looked off the edge of the path, and about ten feet down, there was a brightly glowing blue liquid. Xavier reasoned that the source of light was not normal light. He looked down at his feet, and found that the more he looked down his body, the darker it became until he couldn’t see past his knees. All he saw was blackness.

"What the…" Xavier was frightened that he had no feet. "Where’s my feet?"

"Young Xavier, that is just a trick of light. Normal light can bounce off of walls many times, whereas this light never bounces, so there will be a portion of the floor where you can never see."

"Huh?"

"I’m sorry Xavier, I should have known that you wouldn’t really understand what all I just said"

In confusion, Xavier shook his head side to side.

"Xavier, the reason I brought you here was to give you that red crystal."

"Really? Can I sell…"

"NO!" The ghost yelled. "You must never sell this, or let anyone near it or have it. However, no one can take it unless you willingly concent to give it to someone, but there is only one person you need give it to."

"Who grandpa?"

He chuckled slightly. "When the time comes, you’ll know. You will know. Now, take the crystal."

Slowly, Xavier walked up the steps to the altar. As soon as he could see over the stairs, he saw that the altar was in the middle of a large circle. In the circle were countless rivets carved in the floor with blue liquid running through them, lighting the altar area. Under the floating crystal was a small waterfall of blue liquid splashing down from the altar, running into the little rivets, which in turn, spilled over the side of the circle and into the lake below.

"Whatever you do, do no touch the liquid with your bare hands, or any other part of your body in which your skin is exposed," warned the ghost.

"Huh? Why?"

"Because if you do, you’ll be innodated with a flood of knowledge, which would most likely make you insane."

"Well, that wouldn’t be a good thing…"

"No it wouldn’t. That liquid stores everything that happens in this world. In fact, it’s kind of alive. Anyway, go forth and take the crystal!"

"Um, okay," he said timidly under the ghost’s forceful command.

Xavier walked forward, his boots making an echoing clicking sound upon the floor as he approached the altar. He stood there for a moment, and he realized he couldn’t reach the crystal without touching the liquid.

"Um, grandfather?"

The ghost reappeared in front of him. "Yes…? Oh, you’re too short, aren’t you still? Well, actually, I meant to have you visit this place when you were older, but…"

"But what?"

"I had to bring you here early. Otherwise, you would have frozen to death. So…"

The crystal, over a foot tall, suddenly dissapeared in a blinding flash of light. Xavier covered his eyes, and when the flash had died down, he looked to see that the crystal had been severely shrunk and placed on a necklace. A couple wires wrapped around the crystal, and at the top (of the crystal) was loop connected to the wires wrapped around it. The necklace it’s self went through the loop.

Xavier reached out and took the necklace. He wrapped it around his neck and tied it in the back. As he was making sure it was securely tied, the knot he had tied suddenly faded away, and all that was left was a seamless necklace.

On the far side of the chamber, a circle imprinted in the wall suddenly came alive, shimmering with a crimson red color. The inside of the circle seemed to be a liquid, but it was parallel to the wall.

"Go through that portal. I won’t lie to you. I’m sending you to another world.

"What? No, I want to go back home!!"

"I’m sorry, but on New Terra, your old home, you have nothing left…"

"…What…"

"…And on the new world, you will meet a band of gypsies, and they will take you to the local orphanage in the nearest town. You won’t be there long before…"

"I don’t want to go!!! You can’t make me!" He sat down on the ground and folded his arms across his chest.

"You have no where to go back to! Also, it’s too dangerous for you there. On the other world, there is no one who can take your crystal away."

Tears came to Xavier’s eyes. "What… What are you talking about?" He asked his voice wavering. Xavier struggled to keep his composure.

The old ghost looked away, his arms now crossed on his chest also. "I can’t speak of it directly to you. Touch the crystal and ask it yourself what happened to your parents. I’m going to warn you now. You won’t like what you’ll see."

"I still have to know what happened to my parents…"

He then grabbed a hold of the crystal, and mentally asked what happened to his parents.

A mass of images flooded into his mind. He saw the area in which he lived, totally frozen over. He saw Charles’s house protected by the Ward. However his house was covered with ice. Near the front porch, a women was lying on the ground below the right roof post, totally frozen. The roof post was cracked in the middle, and bent from the weight of the roof.

"Mommy…" He said weakly.

In the doorway was another frozen person, big and boxy, his arms thrust out, his great sword at his side, his left leg back in a defensive position

"…Daddy…"

Not too far away from the house, was another small, frozen person, locked in a running position, face down on the ground.

"…Charles!"

"Xavier, do you see now?"

"W… Why couldn’t you save them?!?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you got me here, why not them?"

The ghost sighed. "Xavier, I’m sorry, but the only people allowed in these chambers naturally is fated-one of this world. However, I am giving you this because it is fated that one day, a man with great power will be able to penetrate and soil this room with his presence. Although, that is a long time from now, but who knows when it’ll happen. What if he comes before ten years from now, when you were supposed to receive this crystal. But if I intrust the crystal with you since your mother can’t hold on to this anymore, then it should be okay. I actually wasn’t sure when this day would happen, but when the Gods had returned the crystal, I knew something was wrong. It meant that your mother was going to die, or not be able to defend it anymore. They only took it from her because she was fated to die."

"Fate this! Fate that! All this fate stuff! Ahh… This is too much for me…!"

"That’s okay Xavier. You may rest here as long as you like. I have made time stand still here for now, so when you feel you are ready, just call to me."

For the next day’s worth of time, Xavier cried, moped, and eventually composed him self. Finally, when he could control his sorrow and sadness, he beckoned for his Grandfather.

"Yes Xavier? Are you ready to leave?"

"Um, yes. But I have a question. You said it’s dangerous on my world, and on the other world, no one can take my crystal away. Does that mean on my world, someone can take it away from me? I thought you said it can’t be taken away from me unless I give it away."

"I’m glad you asked that. I almost forgot to tell you. If you are killed, the bond between you and that Crystal is broken. So the one born just to see your demise will try to find you, then the crystal. The good thing about the crystal is that is makes it harder for the other person to unconsciously seek you out. When you don’t have the crystal on, that person can feel your presence very easily. But since you’ll be on a whole different world, you won’t really have to worry about that."

"So there is a person meant just to kill me?"

"Yes. As you are a Crystal-bound-Fated-One, there are Crystal-bound-Unfated-Ones."

"Why not just call us ‘Fated’, and ‘Unfated’-ones?"

"Because you are not a Fated-One."

"What? I don’t get what you mean grandpa!"

"There are four types of fated people. Fated, Unfated, Crystalbound-Fated, and Crystalbound-Unfated. You all have different purposes and fates.

"What are the Fated and Unfated fated to do?"

"That I do not know, young one. I only know of your fate."

"Which is what?"

"Look to your crystal for answers, if it has it."

Nervously, Xavier once again grabbed the crystal. He saw a man atop of a Black Dragon, and His great-great-grandfather on top of a golden dragon. They then clashed, and after a long battle, his grandfather cast a spell on the man on the Black Dragon, sealing him away into a black crystal, and then …

"…with his might and his own power, drove the evil Dragon Lord Taulzor deep into the earth, to seal him in the center of the earth never to be seen again." Xavier repeated from the Ancient tale his father told him so many times. But there was something more in this vision. The Dragon Lord, before being sealed away, cast a spell. But Xavier didn’t know what he had cast. ‘Maybe it fizzled out…’ He thought.

"That spell Taulzor casted was an evil one. Because of that spell, if all the Fated-Ones are killed, or all of the Crystals are gathered from one planet, then if used by an Unfated one, or by a descandant of The Great Dragon Lord, then Taulzor could be unleashed again to ravage and rule this world."

"So Xavier, you must be wary. You must guard your own life, for if in this life time you need to fight Taulzor, you’ll need to be alive."

"So does that mean that my Dad would have had to fight Taulzor if he had come out?"

"What? No, your father is not a descendant of me!" He then laughed.

"I thought you were my dad’s ascendant."

"No. I’m your mother’s."

"So my mom would have to go fight Taulzor? That’s not possible! She wouldn’t harm even a fly."

"You didn’t know your mother’s background, did you? She was a warrior like no other. She saved your father from being butchered by the Unfated-One of that time, and in turn, felled him for attacking her boyfriend (your father in other words). Not too long later, they became married, and she put up the sword, since she didn’t need it. She was the holder of that crystal for most of her life."

"What?"

"Right before that horrible dragon went over head, the gods took the crystal from her ankle, where she kept it."

A memory came to mind, making him sob again. "I… I remember, sometimes… I would hear a… little… tinkling sound… whe… when she would come to wake me… me…. uup!" He then broke down in to a gut-wrenching cry that lasted for a few moments. After he settled down, he looked back up at his grandfather.

"Yes. Your mother attached a magic bell to the bracelet that would beat against the crystal when she walked. When trouble came, the bell on her foot would ring, but a ring that only she could hear. That’s why she tried to call you in."

He could feel a lump rising in his throat. "It’s my fault! I… I… I SETUP MY PARENTS TO DIE BECAUSE I DIDN’T LISTEN!" He fell again into a crying fit. His knees gave out, and he fell to the floor. It was another two days before he could talk to his grandfather again.

* * *

His grandfather stood by the boy, who was sitting at the bottom of the steps.

"Do you understand that it was not your fault? Even thought the vision of your parents demise came to me just about a week ago, I knew that you would be forced to come here early. But I anticipated you to come in about ten years. Not now. I didn’t know until last week, like I said. Your mother didn’t come here until a little before the fight with the Unfated one. She was about eighteen. And here you are, only but eight years old."

"Yeah."

"So, are you ready to leave?"

Xavier looked up into his grandfather’s eyes. "Yes, I am." A few tears streaked down his face.

"Then go through that portal."

Xavier turned and walked to the portal. Right before he entered, he heard his grandfather call, "Don’t let anyone have take your crystal!" And then he stepped through the portal.

* * *

He fell on the other side of the portal, and landed on the hard ground with a thud. He turned and looked up to see the portal, but it was already gone. Alone and lost, he walked forward for a few moments. Fighting to keep back his tears, he came upon a road. He looked both ways, and decided to go right. ‘Where’s the band of gypsies?’ He wondered.

After about a half an hour, he heard a bunch of animals and a caravan of some sort slowly coming down the trail. He sat down in the middle of the trail, and just sat there, looking very sad.

Soon, the caravan came to him, the side of the wagon was brightly painted different amusing colors.

The driver stopped the carivan infront of the child. "Hey kid, could ya move?"

"Help me," the boy squeeked out. "I’m lost."

"Wha… Oh god, the kid’s lost?" He then turned back towards the end of the caravan. "Hey Shannon! Come up here please!"

From a boxy carrage, a young girl stepped out. She had very long silvery hair, and dark blue eyes. Her skin was fair, and she had a few freckles below her eyes. She was a little taller than Xavier.

"Yes pa?" She called to the driver.

"Check this kid out, he’s lost. I think we should take him to Chronse, or Valkros. They have places he can stay. He probably came from Chronse. It’s just down the road a bit."

"I didn’t come from Chronse or any other city here." Xavier told the driver.

Shannon walked over to Xavier and knelt down in front of him. "Oh, you’re lost? Where’s your parents?"

Xavier’s eyes turned down to the ground as tears came to his eyes. "I don’t have parents anymore…"

"What? What happened to them?

"They died…"

"Oh my goddess! You poor thing!" She then wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

"Well, here I am being all touch feely, and I don’t even know your name!"

"My name’s Xavier."

"Hi," she put out her hand. "I’m Shannon."

He shook hands with her. "So, where do you come from?" She asked.

"No where near here."

"Do you know the name of where you come from?"

"Um, New Terra." He answered, remembering that his grandfather had said that.

"Well, I’ve never heard of that before. But, you don’t sound like you come from some where far off. Usually, they have accents if they live far away, and you sound just like us."

"Oh, yeah, I do."

"Well, come on, we’ll take you to Chronse, and unfortunately, we have to take you to the orphanage there."

"How come?"

"Most every one in our carnival are adopted, but we just don’t have any room for another person."

"But your gypsies! You take in people and stuff, don’t you?"

"Gypsies? That’s a term I’ve never heard before."

"It refers to a bunch of entertainment people that are nomadic, but that term hasn’t been used for ages. Where’d you hear that boy?"

"From my grandpa."

"Is he still alive?"

"No."

"Well," started Shannon. "C’mon inside, let’s get moving."

So they climbed inside the first carrige and started forward.

* * *

Shortly after arriving at Chronse, Shannon begged her father to let him stay until they reached Valkros. She secretly hoped that the juggling boy would leave, for he had talked about leaving. But Valkros came and before leaving, the dropped him off at the local orphanage. In the next town, two weeks later, the juggling boy died from a snake bite, and the Carnival decided to travel back to Valkros to adopt Xavier. However, he was gone by the time they got back, three weeks from when they dropped him off. The headmistress said that he was adopted after two weeks. How he left so fast was a wonder, and Shannon thought of him frequently well after she was married and had children.

* * *

When Xavier arrived, the plump headmistress, Aulga, welcomed Xavier to the orphanage. She gave him a quick tour of the huge house, and then showed him to his room.

Shortly, Aulga and another lady with a burlap bag came back.

"Now Xavier, in order to keep this home going, we need all the money we can get. So if anything of worth belongs to you, please put it in this bag.

"I have nothing to give."

"Are you sure? I could of swore you had a red necklace…"

Then, Xavier felt an odd sensation in his chest. He gasped in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Asked Aulga.

"Ah, what? Nothing, why?"

"Well never mind, take off your shirt so that I can see if you have a necklace or not."

"No."

"Take it off!"

"No!"

"Fine, Mya, take his shirt off." She motioned her finger at Xavier, and the Mya girl reluctantly obeyed.

The girl grabbed the boy and started wrestling with him. Eventually, she pinned him to the floor. She grabbed the neck of his shirt with both hands, and ripped his shirt off. He didn’t have a necklace at all.

"Get off of me!" He yelled.

"Oh, I’m sorry that we ripped your shirt Xavier, but it was customary that we check you out. We really need money! Oh well. Mya will get you a shirt to wear, okay? Goodnight." She then turned and walked out the door.

Mya got off of Xavier and sat down beside him. "Hey, sorry little guy. If I had a choise, I wouldn’t have done that. But since I’m the oldest one in this orphanage, I’m kind of her helper."

"Fine, what ever. Just go away… Mya! I don' wanna to talk to you."

"Hey, I said I’m sorry…"

"I DON’T CARE!! Get away!"

"All right, all right, I get the picture." She got up and walked out of the room.

He looked around and saw two bunk beds, none of them taken up by anyone else. He took one of the beds, and but the rough pillow under his head.

Mya then popped her head back in the room and said, "Oh, when I wake you up, just come down stairs for breakfast, okay?"

He then grabbed his pillow and threw it at her, but it hit only the wall. She retracted her head long before it would have hit anything.

He got up and took his pillow back, plopped down on the bed, and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Mya came in to wake him up.

"Wake up sleepy head!" She shook Xavier until he awoke.

"Huh… What?" He mumbled.

"It’s lunch time. Come eat."

He sat up, and then satisfied that he’ll get up, she turned and left the room.

"Thank ye ma'am!" He yelled to her. She had left, but he saw her hand wave from the other side of the door.

He came down for breakfast, and saw that the whole orphanage was comprised of only thirteen kids. four boys, eight girls, and Xavier.

In the large mess hall, all of the children sat at one table in the middle of the room. Sort of depressed, he took a table in a corner in the room. He didn’t want to be around people that day.

Sooner or later, one would probably come over and be the ambassador. And sure enough, a few minutes later, one boy came over to his table.

He had brown hair, was kind of short. He looked a little bit older than Xavier.

"Greeting, did you just come in last night?" Asked the boy.

"Aye, that I did," Xavier replied.

"Hey, there aren’t very many of us here, and we all kind of stick together you know, so why don’t ye come over and meet the rest of us?"

"I must apologize, I’m feelin’ a bit under the weather today," he said groggily. "Come back tommorow, an I’m sure I’ll be fresher than a spring rain by then."

The boy looked at him for a moment, and said, "Alright. I know it’s hard just being dumped off by your family. Most of us here have been here since we were babies, but I came here last year. Both o’ me parents died, as well as the rest of my family."

"I’m sorry to hear that. So did me family."

"Really? Well, that's a common afliction we all seem to share, no? Anyway, my name’s Dylar."

"Good to meet you, my name is Xavier McConnel."

"Oh a last name too? Cool."

"You don’t have one?" Asked Xavier.

"I didn’t like mine, so I got rid of it."

"You know," Xavier started, "that was the only thing tying you to your family. Get rid of your name, and you forsake your family."

Dylar bit his lower lip and thougth about it. "Oh, I never saw it that way. Well then, my last name is Sado. Dylar Sado. Anyway, I’ll leave you alone now. I’ll come and say hi to you tommorow."

"See ya."

"Bye," said the boy, and he turned back and walked to his table. Everyone at the table was eager to hear why he didn’t want to sit with them. Xavier saw the boy he had talked to speak, and then all the kids nodded in understanding.

A moment later, the kitchen maid yelled out that breakfast was being served. All the kids ran for the service line, and Xavier trailed behind, walking.

He took a tray and took a small child sized mug of freshly squeezed citrus juice, and then took a bowl down to the kitchen lady. She slapped a bunch of oatmeal down into the bowl and told him to enjoy.

He walked back to his seat, and saw the other children busily eating.

He plopped the spoon into the oatmeal, and then tasted it. Surprisingly, it was satisfying and good. He drank his juice sparringly until the end. It tasted like berries, wild Topu fruit, and Mangerines, but who knows what it was on this world. It was also quite sour, but he like it too.

After breakfast, Mya came over to Xavier and handed him a piece of paper. "Here’s your class schedule." He looked at the paper, and surprisingly, he could read it. They talked the same way he did, and also wrote like he did. He wondered how the two worlds could be so much alike.

She started to leave, but Xavier tugged on her sleave. "Hey, what’s in that juice?"

"Oh, it’s just Cherenboon juice. Did you like it."

"Yup."

"Cool."

"What are you talking about? Its not cool in here, its hot…

"What?" A confused look came across her face. "Oh, I'm sorry, it means, well, like good, or great, just it sounds better when you say ‘cool’."

"Oh. Okay." ‘But they don’t use the same words we do…’ he thought.

She then went on her way.

Xavier attended all of his classes, and all of them were boring. Except for the Sword-Play class. He had fun fencing. But he returned to his room, tired.

Dylar came to his door and gave a knock. "Hey Xavier, do you want to go to town with us?"

"With who?" Xavier asked.

"Me, Sean, Mikeal, and Ken."

"What are you going to do?"

"Just wander around."

"Aye, I guess. It’s not like I have anything else to do."

* * *

He didn’t really have fun, none of them did. They just wandered around, like they said they would.

The next day at breakfast, Xavier sat down with every one else.

"Xavier, it’s good of you to join us."

"Ah, well, that side of the room can get a wee bit nippy compared to over here. Ye got all these people breathen and warming the air over here."

The kids laughed a little bit.

Dylar then pointed to the brown haired girl next to him, "This here is Ann," and the then started naming off everyone at the table. "And that’s Maria, that’s Kelly, that’s Shannon, that’s Jaclyn, that’s Lisa, that’s Elizabeth, that’s Michelle, and you all ready know Mikeal, Sean, Ken, and I."

After that, he got to know everyone, but no sooner than two weeks later, a man came in looking to adopt. And he picked Xavier…