Father is coming, he weakly replied.
Noticing his difficulty in speaking, a sense of pity welled up in his heart. His gaze sized up the weathered boy, scrutinizing every aspect of his person, and what he saw did not please him.
"Jedaiah, you were asleep for five years, your body has severely deteriorated. You've grown weaker than you used to be such that you can't even walk on those legs." His blunt but truthful words helped piece together the current situation of the young boy, it left his dismayed.
Taking stock of his current situation and the oncoming storm called his father, a sense of despair found way in his heart.
'So this is the way things are currently...sigh, even running away from this is impossible.'
His elder brother had long kept quiet after noticing the despair that crept up on his face. The pale moonlight entered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the opulent room creating a peaceful but solemn atmosphere.
Exhaling a deep sigh, Elezia took a seat by the corner of the bed facing towards the debris from his powerful kick. Hunching down, his cyan colored eyes gazed at the crimson carpet made from extraordinary material.
Jedaiah, he solemnly said, "what do you think of our family?"
Still gazing at the carpet, Jedaiah, looked upon the hunched figure seating beside him. His gaze calm and staid flickered with the fires of pride but were quickly doused by the shame he brought upon himself.
"We, the Telemenpha are a great family, an honorable bloodline, a pure race. Born from the terrors of war, we became great, sharpened by the duties we hold. We are strong, a race of the strong, the failures are culled, the disappointments are shunned, the weak are trampled upon and the strong ascend to glory." he weakly said, not stumbling on his words fear etched in his voice.
A small smile appeared on the hunched person's face as their flaxen hair loosely covered their countenance.
You haven't forgotten the mantra taught to all who are born inside the Telemenpha Family.
Straightening his back, he turned toward the young boy Jedaiah who looked upon him with an indescribable gaze. Different emotions played deep inside that gaze many being unclear to himself ever since he entered his younger brother's room. He slowly rose up from the corner of the bed, ascending to his usually tall height. Standing tall, he observed the golden light entering from the shattered door.
That's right we are the Telemenpha family...so tell me Jedaiah, do you want to die?" A question that demanded a life, was posed at the sickly young boy.
He was neither fazed nor upset at such a question, such were the workings of the Telemenpha Family. As he spoke the mantra taught to all who are born into the family, so must he be under the very same rules he uttered.
Ever since he woke up, Jedaiah had not since moved away from his bed seemingly transfixed at the setting sun. Its warm golden rays caressed his emaciated and pale skin giving warmth to himself, its majestic orange appearance and the way it grew fat at the horizon, produced a sense of awe in him. Gratitude was what he felt in that small moment of peace.
Turning his heard to look at the set sun, he uttered in a small voice devoid of any negativity
"No"
Surprise exploded in his heart, widening his eyes and slightly dropping his lower jaw. Reigning it in, he walked towards the broken down door taking wide strides.
Left behind, his gaze continued to linger at the broken door where golden orange light gently cascaded in to the room.
Plopping down onto his bed, he gathered his scattered thoughts that were jolted by the blunt but truthful words of Elezia. An all-compassing silence occupied the entire opulent room as Jedaiah was left to his thoughts, even the mysterious voice didn't utter a word as though it were never there. He stared at the ceiling that had strange patterns made from gold as he thought to himself.
***
Sleep had evaded Jedaiah, kept company by his thoughts he began to think of ways to grow strong, seemingly out of his hope to be strong or whether to escape from his despair, he couldn't tell.
"five years have passed, I've grown weaker in fact to the extent that I can't use the bathroom on my own, sigh. That kick Elezia performed, he must have experienced a close encounter and he probably trained very hard to create, sustain and evolve his state. sigh... what a depressing situation."
Young boy, what has got you worried? The kind, mysterious, majestic voice cooed across the room with much levity.
Ever since he awoke, Jedaiah, had been hearing such a voice. It sounded sweet, majestic and full of love, though boasting such emotions it remained strangely mysterious. He knew not when it came nor when it left.
I want to grow strong, but the circumstances do not allow for such a grand dream. I want to live yet its likely I won't see the spring," said Jedaiah, his hollow eyes seemingly sinking lower in to his eye sockets.
Noticing the boy's dilemma, the mysterious voice chuckled sweetly, its voice sweeter than honey itself filled the entire room with much levity.
"What do you need to grow...stronger? wealth, special herbs, rare stones or something else?
The obvious weight of such a question ensured that only the necessary answers were given out yet none of the suggestions provided could solve his predicament.
"I need a close encounter. An encounter with something far beyond the natural standard, it jolts my existence to another plane of existence."
He neither knew what this entity was nor what was it trying to achieve but one thing was certain, no, absolute. This female voice filled with such positivity was undeniably strong, stronger than his encountered older brother, stronger than half of the Telemenpha house, so he decided not ask unnecessary questions lest he bring the wrath of a close encountered being to himself.
Seemingly amused at the young boy's honesty and directness, a sweet, mellow chuckle reverberated throughout the room. In the huge estate of the Telemenpha, her lovely, sweet voice should have been heard by a lot of the people inside the estate yet nobody heard. Such was one of the reasons Jedaiah maintained amnesty with the mysterious being.
Do you want to know a secret?"
An innocent question with a double edged meaning was what he got from the mysterious being, but one thing he knew which was taught to him by the head of this great family, a solemn rule he imposed upon all who shared the family name, "never seek out knowledge!"
But could Jedaiah resist such a being, could he shut his ears and ignore the mysterious voice. They were strong, he was weak. What could a weak person do to ignore the voice of the strong...nothing, utterly nothing. So hence he made his decision, whether death or fates beyond death came out from his decision, he could not do anything to resist.
Licking his dry lips, his throat bobbed up and down and small sweat beads formed on his back. His heart palpitated, his eyes quivered. He opened his mouth and a dry weak voice escaped from him, setting into stone his life, a turning point of no written.
"Tell me."