Excelsior (8 page)

Matthew's voice caught in his throat.

“Matthew?” A hint of concern broke through Katherine’s reserve.

He cleared his throat. “So… what exactly did I see?”

Katherine kept her voice low. “You saw yourself being pulled away from your school, your friends and the life that you had always known.”

“So you're saying this is a metaphor or something? Like I'm going to get a job over in
California
?”

“It wasn’t a metaphor. You will get a job that will take you far away from your home. Very far. And this job will be the most important one you've ever had.”

“Important how?”

“Tell me, Matthew. That planet you saw yourself being pulled toward, did it look familiar?”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Have you seen that planet before?” Katherine persisted.

“I’m an artist, not an astronomy buff.”

“That planet, Matthew, is Denab IV.”

Matthew’s mouth dropped open. He looked around in a stunned silence, then started to smile. “Wait, I get it. That planet is Denab IV in the movie you guys are planning for it, right? Where do I sign?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’ve been waiting for a chance to make an Excelsior movie ever since I began working on it. I think Kessler would be the ideal director.”

“A movie we’re planning? I don’t follow you, Matthew.”

“Movies. You know, stories on a big silver screen? They have movies in
Australia
or
England
or… wherever you’re from, right?” Matthew’s voice was getting louder and higher. People were looking.

“I grew up on Denab IV.”

“What?”

“I grew up on Denab IV.”

Matthew’s excitement instantly faded as he started moving his chair away from the table. “Okay, I’m gonna go now. I’m not in the mood for jokes. Have a nice day and tell whoever came up with this idea to go…”

“Matthew, this is no joke! Denab IV DOES exist. And for many years now, my people have been under the rule of the Krunation Empire.”

The young man held up his hands and stood up. “Please. Just give it a rest, okay? I get the joke. Ha-Ha, very funny.”

But Katherine pressed on. “Matthew, I am a Denarian and an Elder.”

“Come on, will you? Besides, if you’d even bother to read one of my comics, you’d know the Elders can’t get above the surface, much less come to Earth. I’m done.”

Matthew started to leave, but Katherine raised her arm and pointed to the table. “Sit down, Matthew,” she said with steel in her voice.

Matthew hesitated. “Why?”

“So I can show you this.” Katherine quickly removed her glasses. Matthew stumbled backward when he saw her eyes and fell over his chair. He knew those eyes. He had put hours of extreme detail into his drawing of them, and now here they were right in front of him. The irises completely black surrounded by dull gray.

Katherine looked at him for as long as she could, then clenched her eyes shut in pain and quickly putting the glasses back on. “Now do you believe me?”

Matthew clambered off his tipped chair and righted it. “I don’t get it. I don’t…. I don’t get it.”

“I understand your confusion. What would you like to know?”

“What are you doing here? How did you get here? When did you get here?”

“The technology of Denab IV is very advanced, but I’m sure you must know this, Matthew.” She gave Matthew a small smile.

Matthew nodded, as if in a dream.

“Well, one of our key technological breakthroughs was our interplanetary doorway that allowed for us to reach out to other planets.”

Matthew raised his hands to stop her. “You mean… the Leap of Faith? It’s real? I was going to start bringing that into the comic, but only after Nocterar was defeated.”

“I used it to come here about 10 earth years ago. I was looking for some trace of Excelsior since he was last known to have come here.”

Matthew cut her off again. “Wait a minute. Excelsior was here? On Earth? Where?”

“He's closer than you know, but I'll get to that in a moment,” Katherine rubbed her temples, then continued. “For three years, I found nothing. No sign at all of Excelsior. It looked like I was going to have to go back to Denab IV empty-handed.”

“So why didn't you go back?”

“Because three years after I arrived, there was word an ancient artifact had been discovered. It was an amazing discovery that is still being debated among your planet’s scientists. It is amazingly popular on your Google.”

Matthew almost laughed. “My what? Oh, you mean the Web. What was it?”

“It was a sword. A beautiful jeweled sword that found its way to Earth over 5,000 Earth years before the time your people know as the Bronze Age. Nobody ever knew where it came from or how it could have possibly been created. Your Google has readers who believe it is not from this world, something that no one with any common sense would believe.” Katherine’s smile grew bigger. “This is the very sword that was held by Excelsior. He was separated from it when he was transported to Earth approximately 10,000 years ago."

“Wait, the Ritgen Sword? That's the sword of Excelsior?”

Katherine shook her head. “Please don't call it the Ritgen Sword. He's the last person who should have been given that much credit for it.”

“So if it’s Excelsior’s sword, what happened to Excelsior?”

“Tell me something, Matthew. Based on the comics you’ve ‘created,’ what do you think happened to him? What does it mean when the lifeforce of Excelsior leaves its host?”

“It means that the body was fatally wounded and could no longer be the proper shell for his power, so the lifeforce returns to the sword.”

“And what happens when a host dies while in mid-transport?”

“His body turns into energy.”

Katherine nodded. “When I first heard about the discovery of this sword, I contacted my fellow Elders on Denab IV. What I found was quite interesting.”

“What did you find?”

“When Excelsior's lifeforce returned to his sword and the body of Semminex expired, his weapon touched down on this planet, in an area that would become known as
Greenland
. The sword remained there until Ritgen's excavation team set up an archeological dig.”

Matthew nodded. “So how come Excelsior's lifeforce didn't transfer to someone else during its discovery?”

“That's hard to say. All that we really know is that the sword bides its time until a worthy host appears.”

“Wait, do you mean me? What are you telling me?” Matthew leaned forward.

“Right now, I would say you have fragments of Excelsior's memories because you are meant to be the next host.”

Matthew suddenly felt like a child who was told there was no Santa Claus. “Wow. So…all of this is real, and…I didn't create Excelsior.” He looked down at the table, then ran both hands through his hair. He slowly looked up as he tried to compose himself. “If everything that you're saying is true, then how did I get Excelsior's memories?”

“You tell me. Have you ever come in contact with the sword? Think back to that time when you saw the sword.”

Matthew hesitated to make sure no tears were coming down before answering. This was getting weirder and weirder. “Well...”

Katherine waited. “Yes?”

“Well, there is this one time, the time when I saw the sword at the museum. You know, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”

“Yes?”

“This is kind of embarrassing, and I never told anyone about this since I was a kid at the time, but I wanted to get a closer look. It was really pretty, you know?” Katherine nodded. “Anyway, we were in the middle of this really big group and everyone was asking questions and the guards were occupied since there were so many kids running around and touching things.”

“Right.”

“So nobody could see me getting past the velvet rope and I went up and touched the handle. Just for a second.”

Katherine gave him a concerned look. “You touched it?” Matthew nodded. “Let me see your hand,” she demanded sharply.

Matthew held out his right hand and Katherine examined it closely. “It was this hand, wasn’t it?”

Matthew nodded again, feeling a golf ball lodged in his throat. Katherine’s fingers were feathers on his palm as she traced a shape. “Just what I thought. Have you noticed this?”

“Well, it IS my hand. So yeah, I noticed the star.” She saw a very faint outline of a star embedded in his palm.

“When you touched the sword, what else happened?”

“Well, I got a pretty bad shock and fell back, and the alarms went off and the guards were grabbing me. My parents were chaperoning and they were really embarrassed.”

“I can understand that. What made you want to touch it?”

“Well, as I said, it was pretty. And it was singing, sort of. It seemed like...” Matthew took a deep breath and answered in a rush. “It seemed like the sword was... calling to me. I could hear a faint humming that got louder the closer I came. I looked around, but I don't think anyone else heard it.”

Katherine looked back up from Matthew's hand and released it. “I'd like to talk to your parents. Can I meet them?”

Matthew lowered his head again and struggled to answer. It was too difficult to hold back the tears now. “My, uh... my parents are dead.” He felt like he was strangling on the words.

“I'm sorry,” Katherine said. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Matthew roughly rubbed his eyes. “They were on their way back from visiting my uncle Jason. He was…well, he was sick and they got into an accident. The other driver got away with only a few cuts and scrapes, but they...”

“They didn't make it,” Katherine finished. Matthew nodded. “So with whom are you living now?”

“It's just me and my Uncle Jason. He's been living at my house so I didn't have to switch schools.”

“Is there any chance that I can talk to him?”

“Um, sure. I think he mentioned to me last night that he'll be home earlier than usual.”

“I can give you a ride if you like.”

Matthew nodded. “Why do I feel like you haven’t told me everything?”

“Because I have not. But I will when I meet your uncle. And you may find that your life is about to change in ways even you could not have imagined.”

"What did I tell you?!" Matthew cocked his head toward the stern and bullying voice that echoed through the hall.

"Are you okay?" Katherine asked. Matthew held up a finger and stood up. His legs carried him through the cafeteria and toward the all-too familiar voice. Past the cafeteria doorway, he saw Kelly holding Thomas up by his T-shirt while Nick squeezed the scrawny student's face. Various students walked by to exit the school through the cafeteria doors.

"Hey!" It took a moment for Matthew to realize that the stern and forceful voice belonged to him. Nick and Kelly slowly cocked their heads in his direction like confused Rottweilers. Thomas looked equally stunned, as did several students trying to mind their own business.

"Get out of here, freak!" Kelly instructed just like he had the day before in the parking lot.

"No," Matthew responded. His body trembled with adrenaline, and he could see himself slinking away with his head down, but he refused to move.

"Matt.... what are... you doing?" Thomas squeaked out between deep breaths.

"This has nothing to do with you, freak! Just walk away! This is between me and him!" Nick yelled as he pointed at Matthew.

Matthew kept his arms down as he walked up to Nick. "No," he repeated with a stern yet calm voice. "Leave him alone." As he watched other students around them stop and stare, the young man expected to see them start to chant, "Fight! Fight!" But none of them made a sound.

"You got a problem, asshole?!" Nick said as Kelly threw Thomas to the ground. Thomas struggled to his feet and walked behind Matthew, who kept walking up to the wrestling captain.

"I won't have a problem if you leave him alone and start doing your own Goddamned homework." Matthew said. He said it loud enough for the spectators to hear it, and on cue, they let out a collective, "Ooooohhhh!"

"Or I could just kick your ass, how about that?" Nick retorted.

Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "Then take your shot," he said with the same calm tone of voice that he had earlier. "Come on, Nick. This is your big moment to prove your dominance. We're all here." Nick held up his fist, sizing up his new opponent. And still, Matthew refused to hold up his hands.

"Or you could just be the bigger man and walk away and stop bullying people half your size."

As Matthew approached Nick, Kelly's eyes widened in disbelief as Nick took a step back, his personal space invaded. Students behind Nick cleared a path so he could continue walking backward without tripping over anyone.

"You're a real sick son of a bitch. You really want me to kick your ass?!" Nick said as he cocked his fist back.

"Such a fair fight against a comic-writing freak, isn't it?" His voice grew stronger with every step he took, attracting more students to watch the developing fight. "Come on, Nick, you coward. Hit me."