Daniel Xander, Chapter 5: An Old Man's Past

Daniel stared, open-mouthed and wide-eyed as the woman walked towards them, tossing the tank up and down. It looked like a normal enough tank from the movies, which meant it looked really heavy. She was smiling widely looking at Nathan. As for Nathan, he looked as if someone had forced a spoonful of salt into his mouth.
"So," said the woman momentarily looking at Daniel before turning back to Nathan, "you here with the newbie?"
"We are sort of in a hurry miss Brown." Said Nathan, eyes closed, his expression still sour, "Also, I remember asking you to refrain from displaying your Imperium to newcomers. I see you, as always, didn't bother giving my words a second thought."
Miss Brown laughed and threw the tank behind her back as casually as she'd been tossing it. Daniel almost plugged his ears, expecting an almighty crash; but the tank didn't hit the ground. It started floating in mid-air before it could hit the ground and started hovering a few feet above. Daniel looked at Nathan, who had his left arm out. Even through his jacket, Daniel could see the glow of his mark. He looked really angry.
"Can't you excercise even a little caution, Elizabeth?"
So this was Liz Brown, the system buster Nathan had mentioned on the aeroplane.
"I knew you were going to catch it anyway, so why bother?" She said laughing.

Nathan sighed. The tank set itself on the ground slowly, making just a small rumbling sound as it did.
"Take this tank at once and fly away immediately." Said Nathan authoritatively, "Then, meet me at Central plaza, near the Madron coffee house. We have matters to discuss."
"Aye captain!" Said Liz Brown, with a mock salute. She turned away and set her hands under the tank's front, lifting it over her head. She turned back again for a second, and gazed at Daniel curiously, before jumping up. There was a very loud boom. Daniel felt a very strong gust of wind push him back as leaves flew all around him. He fell on his rear, his eyes closed. When he opened them, Liz Brown was gone. He stood back up and rubbed his rear, which was aching from the fall.
"That girl!" Said Nathan sounding frustrated, "Always messing around! Making fun of direct orders from her senior! Derelicts her duties! Seriously how can anyone put up with her-"
"Hey, who was that anyway? Superwoman?" Asked Daniel feeling, as always, really confused.
"Didn't I take her name just now?" Said Nathan looking weary, "She was Elizabeth Brown, the semi mortal who is ranked third in all of Anoterose."
"Yeah, I remember you mentioning her." Said Daniel, "But what's her Imperium?"
"Immortal strength," replied Nathan in the same tone, looking uncharacteristically pale, "It gives her flight, super strength, super speed, super endurance, super everything. And she is-" his words were cut short by a very loud wooshing sound and another boom.

Liz Brown had materialized a few feet away out of nowhere.
"I thought it would take you time to get to the plaza, so I came here again." Said Liz happily.
"Wonderful." Said Nathan. Daniel couldn't help but notice that he was looking terrible. He'd lost his sarcastic tone and was certainly talking in an oddly formal manner.
"Now if you don't mind," he continued, "me and mister Xander have somewhere to-"
"Not so fast!" Said Liz sounding a bit too cheery. "I have something here for you, a direct message from the president." She took out a neatly folded envelope from her back pocket and handed it to him. Nathan took it, his expression pained. He took out the letter and began reading it, his face getting paler by the minute. Finally, he put the letter back into the envelope and said, "Fine."
He turned to Daniel, and opened his mouth to say something, but apparently thought the better of it and closed his mouth. Without a word, he began to float, the glow of his marks visible. He looked up into the sky and shot up very suddenly, like an arrow from a bow. Daniel could see his shape ascending up into the sky, until it was nothing but a dot, which finally disappeared towards the direction in which they'd been walking.
"He didn't tell me he could fly." Daniel mumbled.
"You don't look too surprised?" Said Liz Brown looking at him, her dark eyes examining him curiously.
"Yeah, I have seen......things." said Daniel a bit awkwardly. Nathan had just left, and now he didn't know what to do. Should he keep walking or ask Liz Brown for help?
Before he could do either of those things, Liz Brown suddenly walked towards him and stopped a small distance away. Her smile was gone and she looked a bit.....unimpressed?
After a moment of awkward staring, she said, "You look more like your mother than your father."
"Oh! Ah, I see." Said Daniel a bit relieved. He'd expected that she would order him to do a backflip, or punch a crater into the ground. He didn't care much about what she thought about his looks.
"So, how do you know my father? What, is he a celebrity here?" Asked Daniel.
"No, not really," said Liz turning to look away from him, "he is more of a war hero."
"Oh, ok."
"My name is Elizabeth Brown by the way," said Liz, "not that you don't already know. But you can call me Liz."
"Right," said Daniel, finally feeling like he was getting somewhere, "so do I follow you or is Nathan gonna come back for me?"
"Nah," said Liz, "you are my responsibility now. Nathan has gotten into some trouble with the higher ups. They will be charging him a penalty."
"Oh," said Daniel, wondering what Nathan had done to offend the higher ups. The dude had just received a letter from the president. Must be pretty serious. Was it because he'd attacked Daniel? Or something else? He did remember Nathan mentioning something related to not hurting the semi mortal assigned to you.
"So," said Liz Brown breaking him out of his reverie. Her smile had returned to her face and she was eyeing him with the same interest as she'd done before, "let's get going. We shouldn't be staying here for too long anyway."
Daniel nodded, and started following Liz as she started walking in the same direction as before.

"You have been awfully quiet," said Liz turning back to look at him as they continued to walk in silence. It had been about 5 minutes and Daniel didn't really feel like talking all that much. With all the craziness that had been going on, he'd actually forgotten that he was in a different plane entirely. Not a different space or a different dimension. A different existence entirely. He didn't even know if the science was the same here or not. Maybe, asking Liz would help.
"Yeah," said Daniel, "it's just overwhelming, you know. But I do have some questions."
"Great," said Liz grinning, "I like inquisitive people!"
This felt good. Maybe, she wouldn't be irritated by him like Nathan. She looked way friendlier anyway.
"I was wondering," said Daniel, after some thought, "whether the laws of physics and everything are the same here or not? Because, well.....you guys can do things which I don't think creatures of the second plane can. So I thought there would be some difference."
"That's good!" Said Liz brightly, as if she was pleased by Daniel's question, "You see, the entity of the third plane basically replicated the space with the same fundamental laws as the second plane. That is conventional. We aren't really supposed to ask why. The entity is a god like being, and questioning the motives of God is a waste of time. So in essence, the same fundamental principles apply here with a bit of a catch here and there. The universe as we know it-which is actually no bigger than an average galaxy of the second plane-is expanding. But with our limits here, we can't exactly go and explore the borders of the universe. Other fundamental things like what is matter made of, energy mass equivalence, and gravity are all applicable."
"Right," said Daniel, trying to avoid the roots of the trees bulging out from the ground. It had gotten considerably dark. Suddenly, Daniel was struck by an almost forgotten thought.
"The date." Said Daniel, "If this is a different existence entirely, a different fabric of space, time and reality, then, the date must be different than the date on earth?"
"Yeah," said Liz, "today is the 12th of May, 1097."
"Right." said Daniel, "So, if you are using the earth months, that must mean that you guys have either been following the developments happening on earth, or that this is actually a timeline alternative to that of earth's? Am I right?"
"The former, actually," said Liz, and Daniel couldn't help but notice that she sounded impressed, "You have to understand one thing clearly, Daniel. When you are in the alternative timeline, you aren't actually in a different space. The space is the same, and so is the reality. But when you transcend planes, you are entering a different space, a different time, and a different reality altogether."
"I guess that makes sense," said Daniel struggling to follow Liz in the dark now.
"By the way," said Liz, "I am sorry I can't fly us to the border. You know your body is almost as frail as a human's. So travelling at that speed might shatter you. I can't exactly control my speed to match one humans are comfortable travelling at."
"Oh," said Daniel, rather surprised, "that's totally fine. But how fast are you exactly?"
"My top speed is Mach 17." Said Liz sounding very proud, as Daniel stared at her incredulously. "As for my lower limit.....it's just over Mach 2." She added.
"I see," said Daniel, trying to keep his voice level, though he almost felt like screaming from the weirdness overdose. Though it actually made sense, how Liz had taken a tank to some location and returned almost immediately. "So, is this your speed in the second plane, or in here?"
"In here," replied Liz, frowning a bit, "in the second plane, I can travel at, well-it's gonna be hard to believe."
"Try me." Said Daniel. Nothing could surprise him more now. His mind was at its limit.
"Well," she said, glancing over to him uncertainly, "I think I can travel at about twice the speed of light."
"What. In. The. World?" Said Daniel wishing he could take back what he'd said.
"Now I know," said Liz sounding a bit pained, "that it is weird. I mean, for you, weird might not even cover it. You might think I am outright lying. The thing is Daniel, we aren't the beings of the second plane. And even though, most fundamental laws, the conventional laws, are technically the same for the second and the third plane, get this, as soon as a limitless Imperium is added to the mix, things change. Part of why we have a limit in this plane is so that we don't outright destroy the laws which are supposed to be fundamental. In the second plane, the entity of the third plane can't put a limit on us since we are outside it's domain of power. And the entity of the second plane can't put a limit on our powers because it's not the source of our life force. Hence, we can distort reality and make it so that, the more powerful ones among us can do, well, do whatever we want essentially. The laws of physics, things which are supposed to bind us to reality, are all nothing, nothing in comparison to the powers of our immortal blood."
"Ok," Daniel tried to wrap his head around the idea of being able to distort reality. Suddenly, the image of Liz lifting a tank effortlessly came into his mind.
"You also have super strength, right?"
"Yes." Said Liz, looking somewhat pleased that Daniel hadn't counter questioned her more.
"How powerful are you then?" Asked Daniel.
"Well, while I am here, I can lift sky scrapers without much difficulty. In the second plane, my power upgrades to being able to toss planets without difficulty."
"Damn," said Daniel numbly, "and you are only rank three? How come you aren't rank one?"
Liz's expression darkened, though it was difficult to tell in the dark.
"Well, I am certainly stronger than Nathan." She said, "I mean, everyone knows I could just speed-blitz him and that would be the end of it, but still, the dude has a genius level tactical mind, so I can't complain. The rank 2 guy is on another level from us entirely. The thing is, he is still pretty young. Not much older than you, I think. So he can't rise up to rank one. So there's that."
"I see."

They continued walking in silence, which gave Daniel time to piece everything together. So even the laws which were supposed to be fundamental could be bent easily by powerful semi-mortals? That was pretty awesome. But right now, the question was where were they even heading? It was almost completely dark now and Daniel could only make out Liz's outline alongside him.
"Hey Liz?" Asked Daniel uncertainly as he tried to make out a clear pathway in front of him, "How far are we going?"
"Oh," said Liz sounding a bit guilty, "not much farther. We are, I think, five minutes away from the border. They will run a check on us there and we can hail a cab afterwards. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah, a bit." Said Daniel, grateful that finally the plea of his grumbling stomach might be answered.
Liz nodded. And suddenly, she wasn't there anymore. Now where had she flown off to? He didn't know she could fly that soundlessly? Had she flown away or teleported? He continued to walk in the same direction.
"Here," came a voice from behind him making him jump, "it's not much but maybe we can make do for now."
Daniel turned to see Liz standing behind him, holding out a bar of chocolate.
"Oh, thanks a lot!" said Daniel gratefully, taking the bar from her. He nibbled at the corner. It was unlike any chocolate he'd ever had. It melted in his mouth leaving a sweet and buttery aftertaste.
"By the way," he said looking at Liz who also had a chocolate bar in her hand, "I didn't know you could fly that soundlessly. And without sending everything flying around at that."
"Uh-huh," she said, "when I immediately start flying at my top speed, that happens. But when I increase my speed gradually, I can get by without making a sound. Also, it depends on the distance I am traveling and my concentration."

Some distance away, Daniel could see some lights dancing around. He squinted and saw that they were searchlights, shining through the trees and lighting up the path in front of them.
"Halt!" Came a sudden shout from somewhere ahead of them. Liz put out a hand infront of Daniel, stopping him in his tracks. All the searchlights converged on them making it extremely difficult for Daniel to keep his eyes open. He squinted, trying to make out what was happening. He could see multiple figures surrounding them, holding out something.
"Intruders!" Shouted the same, vaguely feminine voice, "Name yourselves, or be executed!"
Execution? What the heck? Daniel tried to open his mouth and say something, but before he could say anything at all, Liz said, "Yeah, it's nice to see you Penelope."
"Wha-" said the feminine voice and stopped abruptly.
"Oh, I see you have your badge." Grumbled the voice after a bit of silence, "Fine, follow me. False alarm everyone! False alarm!"
There was a lot if grumbling and complaining, before the lights diverged away from them and began dancing in the woods again. Daniel tried to blink the spots out of his eyes. He could see that they were surrounded by huge men in armour. He couldn't make out the colours of the breast plates and shoulder pads. Looking in front of him, he could make out the silhouette of a woman, tall and slim.
"Follow me both of you," she said beckoning them forward. Daniel looked at Liz, who nodded back, and they started to follow the woman.

Daniel stared open-mouthed at the wall infront of him. It was gigantic. Really, really gigantic. A fortress of black. He could see the openings in the wall through which searchlights were shining. There was a huge doorway infront of them, but the woman wasn't walking towards it. She was walking to the left of it, shining a torch in front of her. The moon was up now, and in it's dim glow, Daniel could make out a figure resembling a leopard on the breastplates of the soldiers walking with them. Suddenly, the woman stopped directly infront of the wall, about 30 meters away from the entrance. She pressed her right hand into it, and as suddenly as that, a passageway opened up in front of them. She walked through it as Daniel and Elizabeth followed. Daniel glanced at the original passageway before entering the newly formed one.
"Decoy," he muttered to himself.
"That's correct boy." Said the lady suddenly. Her voice was strong and husky. "We have to take every safety measure to keep out those mystical beasts that swine has set loose on us. Simple tricks like these go a long way to help us."

As Daniel got in, he almost tripped onto the flight of stairs in front of him, leading up. He felt someone push him forward gruffly-probably one of the soldiers-as he began to climb up. The staircase was wide enough for 3 people to walk at once. A single light at the end of the staircase bathed the whole place in amber. Liz was walking beside him, staring ahead. Daniel looked forward to see that the woman was already upstairs with two other soldiers. She was staring down at them. It was hard to make out her facial features, but Daniel could see that she was about as tall as Liz and looked like she was also the same age. But in contrast with Liz's air of friendliness, this woman gave out an air of dominance and authority. She was dressed similar to her the soldiers around them, in a black armour plate, a black t shirt underneath it and jeans. As they reached the top, the woman turned and opened the door in front of her and entered. Liz signalled him to follow. Through the door was a long and well lit corridor. It felt like Daniel had entered an office building. White marble flooring, whitewashed walls, and a dozen glass doors on either side of the corridor with people filing in and out, holding papers and folders and mugs of coffee. As soon as they all caught a glimpse of them, all of them suddenly stood in attention and saluted formally. The lady nodded as all of them resumed whatever they'd been doing. The lady signalled them to follow her and after a few minutes of walking and turning around the corners every now and then, they reached a polished wooden door with a plate on it which said: Faction Leader Penelope Sherman.

Was this lady Penelope Sherman? Daniel had no idea. He looked around trying to figure out what this place was for. Was this the border? Then, where had they been before getting to this place? Penelope Sherman, or that is who Daniel assumed she was, beckoned them into the office as she opened the door and turned on the lights. The office was pretty neat. Papers and folder all in a neat bundle on the mahogany desk. A cupboard on one side and a wooden shelf on the other side. All around them, the walls were decorated with awards and certificates, along with pictures of orderly groups of people. There was also a curtained window on the wall opposite the door, behind the desk and the chair. The lady set herself behind her desk onto a high-backed wooden chair and indicated Liz and an absent minded Daniel to the uncomfortable looking wooden chairs facing her. Both of them sat down wordlessly. Suddenly, something caught Daniel's eye. He almost got up with a start but stopped himself before he could do that, so it looked like he'd bounced up after almost sitting on a tack.
"Is something the matter?" Asked Penelope Sherman, her voice carrying a faint bit of amusement, "Did you sit on a tack?"
Daniel shook his head impatiently and continued staring at the picture which had caught his attention just now. It was a picture of a young man with dark hair, shaking hands with a woman who looked really identical to him, with high cheekbones, sharp features, long black hair and black eyes. The guy was smiling, his eyes bright and mischievous. It was Samuel. And the woman he was shaking hands with resembled him so much they could have passed as siblings.

Perhaps, sensing that Daniel was distracted, Penelope Sherman diverted her attention to the picture Daniel was staring at.
"I see." she said, "Are you surprised to find out that your father was once young too?"
"So-that really is a picture of my father?" Asked Daniel turning back to look at Penelope Sherman and almost gasping with amazement. He hadn't really been paying attention to Penelope Sherman until now. He'd been observing the office atmosphere and the people running around the place.
She was very striking. Her face resembled that of the woman in the picture, with high cheekbones, sharp features and big black eyes. Her hair was sky blue in colour, and tied back neatly in a single braid. She was wearing an armour plate like the soldiers around the place, with the same image of a leopard splashed down front. The thing which bugged Daniel was that she looked really familiar. Almost as if Daniel had seen her before on multiple occasions.

"Indeed, that is a picture of your father," said Penelope Sherman her elbow on the table, her chin resting on her hand. She was staring at the picture.
"Oh," said Daniel, for the lack of a better word. Then he asked, "Who is the woman with him?"
"That's my mom." Said Penelope Sherman, "My mom and his sister, which means we are cousins."

Her casual tone was the worst part of it. She made it sound as normal as a remark about the weather, or about something that wasn't of much importance. Here Daniel was, just finding out about the existence of a cousin who he didn't even know existed until today, and then there was Penelope, who was acting like she was already well acquainted with him. Daniel opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. What should he even say to something like this? And why was this scary woman acting so casual about this? Was she pulling his leg?
"Liz," said Daniel turning to her, "the scary woman is pulling my leg."
"I am not pulling your leg." said Penelope, with an edge to her voice, "Also, you won't address me with phrases like 'scary woman', or any other insolent nickname you come up with. I am in a position of authority, and I will not tolerate remarks like those in the future."
"I apologise for his insolence, Penny," said Liz inclining her head a bit.

So now, he was being insolent? This woman whom he'd never seen in his life had just introduced herself as his cousin, and he was the one being insolent? Were semi mortals really that ignorant to the situations of outsiders? Instead of explaining to him how the things worked and instead of letting him have a moment to atleast review everything inside his head, he was outright informed about the existence of a completely new family member. His damn old man......how much had he hidden from Daniel? He felt a surge of resentment towards his parents. And on top of that, he didn't even get to speak his mind. Or was she assuming that he already knew about her existence? Was that it? Maybe, a bit more tact would help him get to her.

"I am sorry for calling you scary, Miss Sherman," he said carefully, trying his best to sound formal, "but the thing is, I have been unaware about the existence of my father's siblings until now and hence, I have no idea as to who you are. Sorry if I sounded flippant. It was just that in the heat of the moment, I let my emotions of surprise get to me and ended up saying something completely different from what I was planning to say."
Both, Elizabeth and Penelope were quiet for a moment. Elizabeth had a slight smile on her lips. Penelope on the other hand looked faintly astonished at this sudden change in tone and attitude.
"It's fine," she said after some silence, "I appreciate your honesty. So, you know nothing about your father's siblings? You weren't even aware of the existence of your father's siblings? That right?"
Daniel nodded, feeling somewhat proud of his formal phrasing. Maybe, he was a fit for official places.
"I see," said Penelope Sherman. Then, she picked up the receiver of the telephone lying on her desk, dialled a number. "Yes, two cups of coffee and a black tea. Thank you."
She put down the receiver and looked at Daniel, eyeing him carefully. Finally, she sighed.
"So, like I said, your father and my mother are siblings. Their parents died before Samuel's 11th birthday, and they were left alone. The Xanders were basically nobodies. They'd always been nobodies until Samuel came along." She said, recounting the story of Samuel's past as Daniel diverted his whole mind and attention to her voice, "Now, my mother, Maxime was 15 years old then, with an ok Imperium, which is why she was able to join what's called a siege faction. The kind of which I am heading right now." She paused momentarily as a person came in and handed them their beverages. She took a sip and continued, "You will find out about the specifications of a siege faction. But well, if you are able to join one, you can atleast get free food, water and electricity. So their main worries were taken care of then. On top of that, schools tend to lower the cost of your education if you or any of your relatives is in a siege faction, so the schooling was taken care of. It was fine for a while; well, an occasional breakdown here and there, but apart from that, they were pretty strong. Then, another disaster hit. My mother fell ill." Penelope paused again and took a sip of her coffee. Daniel's own coffee was lying in front of him on the table, untouched. He was just staring at it, unable to bring himself to take a sip.
"They say," she continued, "that your Imperium's true power manifests by twelve. And after my mother falling ill with a disease which was spreading to so many people then, it was up to the 12 year old Samuel to take care of his sister and their livelihood. But his Imperium hadn't manifested even then, so he couldn't do any siege faction related work," She paused again, looking at Daniel, as if expecting him to say something. But he was quiet. He couldn't speak with the lump in his throat.
"The first month was the most difficult one," continued Penelope, her voice low, "My mother didn't tell me what he did to get the money, but from her expression, I can only assume that it was something extremely unpleasant. Sometimes, he would come back home all beaten and bloodied. But mom never questioned him. She didn't pry. She didn't apologise. Samuel always said he hated to see people apologise for something that wasn't their fault. My mother tells me that our grandparents used to apologise a great deal during their time of illness. Samuel hated that. He hated hearing them apologise.
"He continued whatever he was doing for some time. Coming back bloodied and beaten up on some nights, and absolutely wrecked with exhaustion on some other nights. But no matter how beaten up he was, how exhausted he was, he never gave up. Gradually, my mother's health improved enough to let her work again. But she was worried. She was worried that Samuel still hadn't manifested his Imperium. Then, on the night of his 13th birthday, Samuel disappeared, only to come back home the day after, with some cock and bull story of how he'd just gone off to the forest and spent the night there. One thing is for certain, whatever he'd done that night, where ever he'd gone to had resulted in explosive growth. He still hadn't said anything about the whole situation, but after that day, Samuel was an absolute beast. Thirteen year old, and already a planet buster. Factions officially start recruitment by the time you turn 15, but Samuel had every single faction in Anoterose fawning over him by the age of 13 and a half. My mother was proud, but to this day, we don't know what happened on the night of Samuel's 13th birthday which made his growth explode. It was smooth sailing for 4 years from then on. My mother got married at 22. Samuel became a second in command of a faction leader by 17.
"And then, tragedy struck." Said Penelope, and her face looked ashen now. Recounting this whole story was certainly something she was having a lot of trouble doing. Daniel himself wasn't feeling well. He'd just been exposed to the past his father had buried away. This was more than anything he'd taken in.

"Tell, me, are you aware of the ritual of resurrection?" Asked Penelope.
Daniel shook his head, to which, she sighed.
"It was something devised mutually, by the immortals of life and death. In this ritual, a person gives up the condensed energy of their Imperium, in order to bring back someone who has recently fallen.
"On an expedition to Katoterose, Samuel and his Faction Leader, Joseph Brown, were ambushed by a dragon. They had to use all their power to take down the dragon which had been on it's way to Anoterose. A dragon is a class 1 mystical beast. It can wreak havoc in the second plane. Cause the destruction of multiple systems. Even here, it would have taken 10,000 planet buster stat soldiers to take down that dragon. But the two strongest System Busters, Samuel and Joseph took it down, only at the cost of Joseph's life.
"Seeing his senior lifeless destroyed Samuel. It ruined his mental state for that moment, for he looked up to Joseph as he'd looked up to his father and sister. He couldn't see him gone. So he performed the ritual. He chanted the names of life and death 1000 times, and willed for his Imperium to dissolve into his comrade's lost soul. However, the end result is that the one who is resurrected and the one who is performing the ritual will both be stripped off their powers. And so, the two strongest System Busters returned to Anoterose. Many hailed them as heroes. Many called them cowards. A lot of them were silent. But Samuel and Joseph had to take retirement. They were useless in the field now, and their tactical minds weren't anything out of the ordinary. As painful as it was, both of them found a new answer for themselves. Samuel departed for the third plane and married aunt Julia. Joseph stayed here to take care of his daughter and wife, who were both distressed as he'd lost his Imperium, but I think they will always be grateful to Samuel for what he'd done that day. No one knows whether they should call Samuel Xander a hero or a villian. But one thing is for certain. Whatever happened that day, was definitely the single most unfortunate day for Anoterose."