The Myth and The Guardian
Chapter 14

Frank pulled the gun from its holster and turned the safety off of the pistol. The creature moved quickly as it ran from one dark corner to another, unable to be seen by anyone. As the creature continued to frighten them all with its speed, Frank began shooting wildly into the dark.

“Show yourself!” Frank yelled trying to hide his fear.

“I’m right here” said the raspy voice.

Frank turned around quickly to look behind him with his finger ready to squeeze the trigger. As he looked the creature in the face, he froze out of fear and disbelief. The creature that had been chasing them through the woods and followed them to this very place looked exactly like Austin. The moment of hesitation was more than enough time for the other Austin to grab the pistol and throw it far into the large body of water surrounding the large stones. Frank, Susan, and Chris all stared in great confusion and fear from one Austin to the other. They were identical in every way except their voices, skin tone, and eye color. The other Austin’s voice was cold, raspy, and scary, and his eyes were as dark blue as the night sky. His skin was tough and pale like he was a ghost or ghost-like. The Austin that they all knew was still standing in front of the fountain with his eyes glowing yellow and mind in a trance.

As the evil Austin reached to grab Frank, the original Austin jumped from the stone he was on with the dagger in his hand. He landed directly behind the other version of himself with the dagger placed firmly against the creatures throat.

“Leave them alone.” Austin said to the evil twin of a creature.

“As you wish, I will leave them alone if you will look into my eyes and tell me who I am” said the other Austin in a cold voice.

Austin turned the creature around and stared into its eyes. Their bodies became like statues as they stared at one another. As Austin stared into the creatures dark blue eyes, his mind went rushing back to a memory that was too hard to relive. There he was, a scared ten year old boy, watching his mother and father being carried out of their home in body bags. Their own greed and selfishness was the poison that got them murdered. They were the richest people in the world, but greed caused them to continue to gain more and more. Their selfish human nature let them turn down any and everyone who asked for help, and they were murdered during a robbery.

There were ten men on the floor bleeding to death. The men were the thieves who had tried to rob them and police offers who had tried to save them. Austin’s father had killed two of them, but he was murdered after he took the life of the second robber. His mother had managed to shoot one man in the chest, but his friends shot her down immediately afterwards. The rest of the thieves were murdered by police officers after refusing to give themselves up, and twelve policeman lost their lives before the last of the criminals were finally dead. The scene was horrific to the point that the surviving officers were crying from their losses and vomiting from the abundance of violence and bloodshed they had just witnessed.

“Remember what happened to our parents and all the others.” said the cold voice.

“Make it stop! Please make it stop!” Austin pleaded.

“Stop it! You’re hurting him!” Susan screamed.

“That’s enough!” Frank yelled

“What else happened to us that night? What did we do?” asked the evil Austin.

Austin returned to the memory against his will, but he remembered everything clearly. He saw himself running away from all of the evil of that place. He tried to run away, but he had gotten lost in the woods behind his house. Eventually he found the trees and the stone that led to the secret place in which they stood. He saw himself sitting on that stone, crying with everything that he had, and asking anyone or anything to just make it all stop and go away. He sat on that stone knowing he would rather die alone in the woods than be a part of a world so cruel. He remained on the stone for weeks without thinking about his own life. As he died of thirst and hunger on that stone, he remembered the very last thing he thought.

“Please do not let anyone else go through this amount of pain. Please do not let anyone else be killed for greed and selfishness. Please do not let any other children lose their parents to the evil ways of this world.”

Austin remembered those words as if he had only said them a few moments earlier.

“Yes, that was our only thought, our only wish. Thus this place was revealed by the pain and sorrows of every innocent man, woman, and child who were victims to such ruthless human nature, and we hurt for each of them. Our tears and their tears mixed with the water that rests in this fountain that night. Our sacrificed life mixed with the years that those innocent people will never experience created your new body, and our blood was given the ability to sustain life.” The evil Austin explained with a faint hint of sorrow in his voice.

“What are you saying?” asked Austin.

Chris was desperately searching for an exit, but he could not see any way out of the dark place.

“Our love and innocence is what was needed to save this world from completely destroying itself. This fountain was here to be found by anyone who happened to discover it, but the loss we suffered and our unselfish reaction to that loss gave us the ability to make our last wish a reality. The moment we were recreated, we became the fountain of youth. We were chosen to live forever to protect the world we wanted to save.” the evil Austin explained with a prideful tone.

“You. You are my memories in human form.” said Austin.

“What?” Susan said astounded by the conversation.

“His memories?” Frank said in a puzzled tone.

“Yes, I am everything that you wished to forget. You are the myth, and I am the guardian.” said the other Austin.

“We keep mankind from discovering the fountain, from discovering this place, from having something else that will force them to kill each other over.” said Austin finally understanding the truth behind his love for humanity.

“That is too much for a child” Susan whispered

“I know. I know.” Frank said squeezing her hand as they both stared at Austin.

“Yes. This is why you were created, and I am every single memory and emotion that you have ever had. I am all that you had to forget until this very moment.” said The Guardian slowly.

“I remember now, and I will never forget my purpose for living again.” said Austin.

“I am sorry, but you have no choice but to forget. Once you drink from the fountain and complete your destiny, you will vanish from existence, only to one day return to the age of ten years old and live until the peak of your eleventh birthday, and the only knowledge you will possess is that of intellect, intelligence, and wisdom. All your personal memories will be erased and used to sustain my life.” said the Guardian.

“Why? I can handle what happened to my parents all of those years ago. I have new parents who love me. I do not need you to take my memories.” said Austin in a matter of fact tone.

“You heard what he said. Now let us go.” Chris shouted in what he hoped was a brave voice.

“Again, I am sorry, but you do not remember everything in its entirety. You forgot the sacrifice you must make to keep saving the world you love. The sacrifice that you cannot make alone but must do in order to keep the world safe which keeps us alive. The pain you must relive every five years as you return to drink from this fountain. This is why I am needed.” said The Guardian looking at Frank, Susan, and Chris.

“I have to lose my family again? NO! They have done nothing wrong.” said Austin furiously.

“Lose? You stay the hell away from our family!” Frank yelled in anger.

“We’re going to die. What did we do!?” Susan screamed through tears.

“Dad, we have to get out of here now.” Chris said in fear.

“This is true, but what do you think will happen now that they have drunk from the fountain and have the elixir of life flowing through their veins? How long before someone notices that they no longer age? How long before they are taken to labs and the secret is discovered? How long before people are literally killing each other for blood just to make their own lives last forever? These mortals and their tainted blood may have the ability to create the elixir, but the ability only works three times for them. The first has already been used on their own lives; the second will drain an enormous amount of blood as more is needed to share this gift with others, the last time will require all of their blood to work. Human beings of sound mind would not make this sacrifice, but the desperate will take a life to gain an eternity of living. The entire world will become victim to the type of viciousness that took place in our home all those years ago.” said The Guardian.

Austin knew that The Guardian was correct about the nature of people. He knew, but he would not let him kill his family.

“No, there has to be another way. I will not let you hurt them!” said Austin putting the dagger to the neck of the Guardian for a second time.

“Oh, I am not going to hurt them. We are!” said the Guardian.

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a flash of light and the Guardian was gone.

“Where did he go?” asked Susan in a scared voice.

Frank and Chris looked around, but did not see the Guardian anywhere.

Then, their eyes turned back to Austin only to be met the very blood red eyes and soulless that Austin had seen in his vision.

“Susan, Run!” Frank yelled.

“Austin! Austin please No!” Susan cried as Austin thrust the dagger deep into her pounding heart.

“Austin, stop! We love you! How could you do this to us?!” Frank said through tears before the blade of the dagger was stabbed through his throat.

Chris tried to run, but was viciously stabbed repeatedly in the back until his body lay lifeless. Once Chris was stabbed a final time, the good and evil Austins were separated again.

“NO NO NO!!!” screamed Austin as he looked at what he had done.

“Chris, I am sorry! I am so sorry. Mom and Dad, please forgive me. I am so sorry. I love you all so much. I didn’t mean to do it. It wasn’t me. I swear it wasn’t me. Please don’t die. I love you all so much. Please don’t die!!” Austin screamed at the top of his lungs with a mixture of horror and tears.

Frank gagged and coughed up blood before his body was no longer moving.

“Austin, you tried to warn us baby. We know it wasn’t you. We loved you too sweetheart. My beautiful son. My sweet beautiful boy” Susan said weakly before taking her last breath.

Austin fell on the stone crying as hard as he could.

“I am sorry, but it had to be this way. We had to do this so that world as a whole would never have to know the horror that we experienced the first time we lost our parents or any of the other times you sacrificed your new parents. This is a sacrifice that we chose to make when we became worthy of this burden. I truly am sorry, but this is how it must end every time. Everything is preordained. This is destiny and not all destinies are beautiful. You will always be adopted by a family who is chosen to remember you, and the rest of the world will never remember you existed. You will always learn to love your new family. They will always learn to love you. They will always figure out your identity, and you will always lead them here to be killed by your hand. ” said the Guardian.

“No! You did this! This is all your doing! You killed my parents!” said Austin with absolute rage.

“Please, think. You know what I am saying is true.” said the Guardian.

Austin was suddenly hit by every memory that had ever been erased. He could not breathe as he saw himself murdering all of those people who loved him. Every foster family that had ever adopted him was murdered by his hand and that dagger. Their bodies stabbed to death and being used to give life to the trees that surrounded the large stone entrance.

“Oh god no! All of those people. I did it. I killed all of those people. They loved me and you made me kill them!” Austin said shaking with disgust for himself.

The bodies of The Andersons suddenly turned to gold dust and went upward to complete the process. Austin could not stop himself from crying uncontrollably because it was all he could do at that point. Everyone that every loved him was dead because of him.

“I will not do this anymore! Nobody else dies because of me! I will not let you trick me into killing anymore! I don’t care if I have to live with all of these memories until I grow old and die right here. I am not drinking from that fountain again.” said Austin shaking from emotions of sorrow, anger, fear, and disgust.

“If you do not drink from the fountain you and I will have failed and will leave the world defenseless against its own nature. I am sorry, but those are the rules. You must always come here. It will always end right here in some way.” said the Guardian.

“No, there has to be another way to stop this from happening again. I cannot live with killing all of those innocent people. This all ends now!” Austin said as he plunged the dagger through his own body.

The Guardian and Austin became connected again. They were a whole person as they fell on the ground preparing to die. Austin could finally think with a complete brain as he was slowly bleeding to death. He tried to think of all the happy memories he could remember while he and the Guardian were whole for the final time before he died. He remembered all the good that he shared with those people who opened their homes and hearts to him. He tried with all of his might to focus on those memories, but he could not help but to think about what would happen once he was dead. Eventually the fountain will return to making whoever’s blood that drank from it the elixir of life. Eventually someone would replace it and the people of the world would kill each other just like the Guardian had predicted. Those happy memories that Austin tried to hold onto were replaced by all the sad ones that other men, women, and children would have to feel once he was dead and the fountain was found.

As long as he existed, the fountain was just water without his blood to complete the elixir. Austin could remember his own emotion by the loss of his parents, and imagined all the other children would lose parents in a way that he did. He used his last ounce of strength to stand and stumble back to the fountain. He imagined a new smiling face because of him with each step he took towards the fountain. Once he reached the fountain, he began to understand that killing his adoptive family to ensure he would be able to protect the rest of the world was only half of his sacrifice.

He had to complete the destiny and choose to protect the world out of innocence and love. He began crying for all of the loved ones he had lost over the years. His blood was flowing all over the place as he leaned on the fountain to help support his weight. He was about to die, and he could not decide if the people in the world were worth the choice he considered making again. He could just die right here and now and leave them to kill themselves and each other if they desired to do so someday.

Once he had almost talked himself into dying and ending the suffering his burden caused him, he thought about the car ride to the airport and the little kid playing ball with his friends. He remembered the look on the boy’s face and thought about how many other kids would get to experience those special moments in life if he carried the burden of not allowing the world to become as horrible as it could be. He thought about Dr. Farmer and his new life with Debra. He thought about Dr. Wilson, who had become his best friend. He thought about the rest of the Wilson family and how they deserved the chance to live peacefully. He thought about how much he had learned to care for everyone on the planet over the short period he existed this time. He then thought about how he had felt when Dr. Wilson and Dr. Farmer had offered him the scholarship to the university. He remembered how he told himself that if he could do anything special for the world then he would.

Austin was slowly growing weaker by the second, but he could still not make up his mind. His family was gone because of him, and he knew that his next family would suffer the same fate if he swallowed the elixir. He wanted to leave it all out of his own hands, but he knew that it was all up to him. He continued to think about more people who would have to suffer if he chose to die instead of fulfill his duty. He hoped that he would replace the one perfect thought that would give him the courage to drink from the fountain again. Suddenly, he saw her face inside of his mind. He could hear her voice and smell her as if she were right there beside him at that very moment. Alex would suffer more than anyone if he chose to die. His death would keep everyone remembering him, and he knew she would not rest until she knew he was safe or alive.

She could also be one of the people who ended up losing her family or her life if he did not protect the world. He could not imagine someone hurting her just to never grow older. He had made her a promise that he would never hurt her again. If she remembered him without knowing if he was dead or alive or if she lost her mom or her own life because he did not choose to keep the elixir as his and his alone, then he would be hurting her more than he thought possible. As he continued to think of her face, he wiped the tears from his eyes, and whispered to himself:

“I am The Myth, and I am the Guardian.”

As he cupped his hands and took a mouthful of the elixir into his mouth, he thought about the words on the back of the book he had written.

“ ….an unrealistic burden and a tragic ending that is undeniably the most life changing example of self-sacrifice…”

One final tear rolled down Austin’s face as he thought about those words. Finally, during the moment his body was about to gasp for its last breath, Austin breathed in and swallowed.

A bright light flashed, and a strange man appeared out of nowhere wearing a hooded white robe that hid all but his hands. He looked around and spotted the body of the young boy. The man walked over to the body and examined it closely. He had sorrow in his eyes as he leaned down and closed Austin’s lifeless eyes.

“You have done so well, child. You keep them safe, and they will never know it.” The strange man said in a whisper.

“Yes, but they don’t deserve it.” A second voice spoke in a cold tone.

The man looked around quickly, but he did not see anyone else.

“Where are you?” The man asked loudly. “You have no business here.” The man declared flatly.

“I’ve come for the boy. He has suffered enough, and I have plans for him. It is time he completed the second half of his purpose.” The second voice replied in a whisper.

“You will never have him. He will never be anything like you.” The man replied strongly.

There was a moment of silence, and the strange man continued to stare in search of the second voice. A tiny ball of what appeared to be complete darkness floated towards the man and Austin’s body. The man stood and stared at the tiny ball of blackness for a moment.

“Are you really going to try and possess the boy while I am standing here? You should know better than that by now.” The man said slowly.

“No. Not possess. I am here to awaken his true self and put into motion the final piece of the prophecy. He has found her which means they have found her.” The second voice replied.

“So, it begins here?” The man asked.

“No. It finally ends here.” The second voice responded.

The strange man placed both of his hands together, and his hands began to glow a bright white light. As he pulled his hand apart from one another, a small ball of white light floated towards the small ball of darkness that hovered above Austin’s motionless body. The balls of light and dark both moved quickly and sank into Austin’s chest. The boy gasped for a moment and opened his eyes. There was a flash of silver light that shined bright enough to blind the strange man. Once the flash had gone, the boy’s body was no longer there. The man stared around and looked at the fountain. A dark shadow of a creature moved quickly towards the fountain, stopped at the fountain for a second, and then vanished into the shadows of the hidden place.

The strange man moved to the fountain and examined it closely until he noticed that one of the sun patterns was missing. He then closed his eyes and focused until his right hand was covered in glowing white light. He slowly placed his hand one of the moon pieces of the fountain and pulled the piece off. He stared at the piece for a moment before turning his back to the fountain. He stopped after a few steps and waved his still glowing hand through the air. A giant opening appeared out of nowhere, and the man walked toward it. He paused for another second to look back at the fountain, but he stared only for a moment. The strange man finally stepped through the opening, and he and the opening vanished into thin air.