“Really!” asked Varenkoff in surprise. “That’s amazing. These things are innate within all of us, but you, I mean since you are more human than vampire...”
“Because of my conditioning,” Alex added.
“Right, so because of that, we never expected this from you. At least not yet,” Nikolas finished.
Alex understood what they were saying, “Alright, so explain everything to me.”
“Okay,” Nikolas said, taking a deep breath. “First of all, I want to tell you about your father.” He paused, recollecting his thoughts. “He was the first of the Anisaei. He was not born but created.”
“Right. I know that. But who was he? Tell me about what he would have wanted me to know?” Alex remembered the discs and the annals. “Wait!” he said suddenly, “Uncle Nick, do you know about the Annals?”
“You mean the one about the Nyrax Dynasty?”
“Yeah. Daniel has one copy, right?”
“Yes, it is with him.”
“Can we get it from him?”
“I doubt it. But, I will try. Now, stop jumping from one thing to another. Let me explain everything. Whatever happened on the ship was of Anaxagoras’s doing. What he’s done shows that he’s grown stronger, much more powerful. It also means that he is closer to the Earth.”
Alex knew it was true and a cold fear overtook him. But he forwent it and continued listening.
“Your father told me, told us,” Nick eyed the Rebels, “at a time when your mother was one month pregnant, that the Falsifier was to be amongst us within the coming year. He said, ‘He will lead us to victory and he will give us freedom.’”
“Freedom? That’s what he is... I mean that’s what I’m supposed to do?”
“That means you’re a savior for both of us.”
“But then why would Anaxagoras want to kill me?”
“Because he’s afraid of you and the recognition you will get. Anaxagoras was disgusted when Aidan joined us and he banished him. He removed his name from the annals of history. He proclaimed that he had no kin. But the truth is he did have five sons.”
“What!” Alex asked, getting up in confusion. “Five sons?” His mouth opened and it felt dry. He walked to the table near him and poured himself a cup of water.
Nikolas nodded, “That’s right. He had five sons before the conversion, before the revolution, before any recorded history of the vampires. He had five sons just the way he had Aidan. He created them out of the Elements.”
Alex gulped down the last sip. “But why wasn’t this mentioned?”
“Well, everyone knew about it, but it became a law that no one would be allowed to speak of it. We all understood the king’s sentiments at the time.”
“How did they die?” Alex asked. “I mean who were they and I know they must have a connection to me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have brought it up.”
“Exactly, and I will tell you why. These five sons represented the five elements of the universe, because he created them out of the five elements. Their names were Dante, Timaeus, Vaspaug, Jaikan, and Quencius.”
“Wait. Dante?” Alex’s eyes shifted to Varenkoff.
Varenkoff chuckled, “No, no, not the same one. Although my parents named me after the king’s son.”
Alex smiled and nodded in understanding.
Nick continued. “Right. So, they represented respectively Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and Light. Using the elements in their grossest form, Anaxagoras created them and he planned to control the Universe through them. He and his sons fought in the War of the Eight Kings, but they were no match for their ancestors. Now, the story goes that they were killed by the one who granted the boons of controlling the elements, an Elemnauri king named Gaius.”
“I thought that the Elemnauri were extinct,” Alex said.
“Many faded with their powers and ultimately died out. But I also I told you that those who fled the planet of Migra at the time between the Creation, mentioned in the Tablets, and the War with the Twelve, were the Elemnauri.”
“Oh right,” Alex said, now understanding it somewhat. “So where did they go?”
Nikolas smiled, “A place called Gaia.”
“You mean Earth?”
Nikolas nodded, “I’m calling it Gaia, because it was called so by the Elemnauri. They found that it was already inhabited by another group of peoples, the very primitive humans.”
“Now how long ago was this?” Alex asked.
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you,” Nikolas smiled.
“I believed you about the Twelve,” Alex said.
“Two hundred and fifty billion years ago.”
Alex paused. Before, Nikolas had mentioned the Knights of the Elders and the time span of trillions of years. But what he didn’t understand was how it all fitted together. “We have no history of that.”
“I know, because of the Big Bang Theory, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Do the scientists know what happened before that? No. Because they have no proof of anything happening before that. However there is some information, in the religious texts, like the Vedas. You see, it is recorded that the Universe ages in cycles and so before this cycle, before thirteen to fifteen billion years ago, there were vast civilizations on almost every planet in the Universe, but unfortunately not all of their history is recorded. Every three hundred and eleven trillion and forty billion years or so, there is a reversal of creation and the Universe dissolves and it creates itself again and again. So there was a civilization that existed on the Earth, or Gaia. Now, they were totally forgotten because of the recent dissolution and Re-Creation, which we call the Big Bang.”
“I think I get it,” Alex said, leaning forward on his bed.
“They lived as refugees on the planet, until finally they decided to call it their home. About one hundred and fifty billion of the Elemnauri race came to the Earth and later the former civilizations of the Earth dwindled. Finally, there was a hybrid race out of which a new race called Gaian-Migrites were formed. They had the combined powers of both the Migrites and the Elemnauri. This was because every stem cell of every Migrite is psychically connected. Therefore, where there is change in one Migrite, there will be in another automatically. Now, the Gaians, the original Elemnauri, were extinct. A large asteroid hit the Earth, wiping out one third of the planet’s life. The Gaian-Migrites decided to create clones of their DNA and stem cells which they kept hidden in a space shuttle. This was sent back to Migra, with a handful of the new Gaian-Migrite Race. They knew if they came in large numbers, the Migrites would take it as a sign of war. But they never made it.”
“Why?” Alex asked.
“Nobody really knows, but the common belief is that they got lost, or something destroyed them. So once they made it back to their native planet, for many millennia, they were looked upon as gods. But soon they too dwindled. Their race lived in the High Mountains and they had their own kingdom. It was ruled by its own monarch. This gradually turned into a peaceful reign. When it came time for the reign of Anaxagoras XXIX, he made a pact with Gaius. He said he wanted to learn more about the Elements and how to control them. Sadly, he had no sons. He wanted five sons who would be able to control each aspect of nature.”
“Wait. I have a question,” Alex said, gesturing with his hands.
“What?” Nick said. The others had been listening intently to him. They leaned against the walls or sat on chairs or on Alex’s bed. Their eyes glistened with interest as they watched Nikolas.
“How did the rest of them survive the Big Bang?”