My Short Story #2: The Altra

The divons were discovered by one of the founders of the organization called Marie. She had stumbled across one of them during her voyages through the caverns of the Sahara Desert. She had sensed power. And she wanted it. Using trial and error, she felt the power being concealed within a hidden corridor of the cave system. At the end, she found an assortment of various objects of different shapes and sizes. These were later referred to as the sources.  When she touched one of them, she could feel anger; something burning. In an instant, fire appeared inside the palm of her hands. She released the fire and then grabbed them and fled out of the caves. While Marie explained and showcased her discoveries in the city of Athens, it was said that there was an enormous collapse underneath the sandy desert. Yet, the rest of the world had not been prepared for this. Some of them had launched a revolution against countries whose political party did not allow the power and technological development that came with the sources. Millions of people came flocking to Athens to discover their veiled abilities and talents on a daily basis.  However, people who opposed the usage of this newfound power formed the Freedom Fighters. The world’s most dangerous and notorious syndicate. And if you did not know, divon was a portmanteau of the words divine and weapon.

Jerusalem. The city that has caused wars between civilizations for centuries in the past. Now it was home to various tourist attractions. Most notably the ruins of the temple of Jerusalem. Today, hundreds of tourists had flocked to see the broken walls and shattered roofs. Some had walked, some had run, others flew. As is the case, with the people who could harness the wind and use it themselves. But only one of them was there to commit a crime. The man intended to do something the world had never seen since the revolution. He would steal one of the rarest and most powerful divinon found on the Earth. As he pushed through the huddling crowds, something caught his eye. A metal door. Really, he thought. Was it really all that simple? He strolled to the door, pretending to merely look at the statues lying on the barren ground in front of him. He opened it, but there was nothing. It was attached to nothing, not a building, not an underground cavern, absolutely nothing. Until he saw the glistening, green orb hidden on the opposite side of the door. It was the source of portals and teleportation. Only a few lucky ones possessed this power and only God knew what they did with it. Most of these people were part of the organization that was behind every motive that related to these weapons.

As the man thought and reflected upon this discovery, he realized that he had subconsciously opened a portal in the door and had already entered. He followed the long, dark corridors until he reached the end. A teenager was standing there. Before he could speak, the boy took out a sharp knife and stabbed him to death. The teenager’s name was Dexton. Dexton went towards a box hidden in the corner of the corridor. He opened it and inside was the first piece of the Altra. The most powerful divon.

After a long journey, Dexton arrived at Athens. He could see the Parthenon from the airport. That was where he was going today. He used the orb he found in Jerusalem and teleported straight in front of the Parthenon. Its majestic Greek exterior glowed in the sunlight. He walked inside and found a rather peculiar message engraved into the wall.

It said, “Beware the guardians of Athens. If you seek the holy Altra, your life will not be spared.”

Dexton smiled. So, it was here! He had researched for years, yet most of the sources that pointed to Athens were always indefinite and dodgy at best. He thought that it was no coincidence that one of the Altra pieces was located in the same place where Marie had brought the divons. He observed all of the magnificent Greek art pieces inside of the temple. Strangely one of the artworks looked out of place. It didn’t feel…authentic. He walked over and removed it when sure that when no one was looking that way. As he placed the artwork on the floor, he noticed some irregularities in the wall in front of him. He knocked on it. It was hollow. He needed the other visitors to leave before he shattered the echoing wall into an uncountable number of pieces. He began to scream at the top of his lungs. Even the ones who were on the opposite side of the Parthenon from where he was turned their heads to glare at him. He explained that a robber had stolen his bag filled with his prized collection of rare and obscure divons. He fell onto the floor and began to sob loudly. As soon as his body made contact with the ground, the other visitors began to race outside to find Dexton’s bag. A bag that never existed. As the room emptied rapidly, he removed his water flask and began to bang it against the hollow wall. It did not take long to splinter and cave in. There was a plastic container inside and it was covered with a layer of dust and miniscule debris. He silently uttered a spell that removed the enchanted charms that locked it. Nonetheless, the moment he opened the container, an alarm began to ring deafeningly. The room