It was nothing more than a casual
night, his family was by his side, all of them going back to their home after a
quick reunion in a coffee shop. The weather was on point after a too hot day,
so the iced coffees his brother and aunt drank were more than enough, while his
mother’s expresso and his hot chocolate were nothing more than delicious.
Still chatting about funny things
that happened in their jobs, the four walked to their houses without nothing
more to worry than the next day. Such a calm night, none of them ever imagined
that all of it could be changed in one second.
They lived in an island. It was big
enough to have three mayor cities: one in the north, the biggest with almost seven
hundred thousand of habitants; at the southeast was the second larger city with
something more than five hundred thousand of people; and the last in the
southwest, where this family lived, was for three hundred thousand.
It was meant to be a pacific island,
far from all the problems the rest of the world had because, since more than
two hundred years ago, they closed their borders for the rest, only allowing a small
commercial exchange with a few closer countries, just as they accorded to
maintain their independency.
Why they were closed to the world?
Because they weren’t as the rest of the humans, but no outsider knew it.
The world was plagued by people
presenting what in the past were called superhuman abilities, those that the
comic books, movies and books used to treat like something unusual and dreamy.
Suddenly, without nothing more to explain it than the nuclear and toxic reactions
or pollution making a miracle in which humans evolved instead than being killed
by their mistakes, even before they killed their planet first.
While the people in the world was changing
in accordance of the new happenings, in that solitary island no superhuman was
born. Because their environment was cleaner, their energy sources more natural
or their chemist control better, they remained unchanged, prohibiting to let
that people outside their territory to enter, not for discrimination but for
protection.
Where there are new abilities, there
are new kind of problems; and while the rest of the world had their superhumans
to protect them, they had no one; thus isolation was the only choice. Keeping
the evolved DNA far from them, no tourists, not exchanged students or workers
were allowed, no researchers, no politicians, no famous people, no one.
Even so, a few years later since then,
four children were born the same day with superhuman abilities. They were
gathered, treated with utmost respect and educated after the decision of keeping
them inside was made, in hopes to have them as protection and to know if their
offspring were to be superhuman as well.
However that wasn’t the case. From
the eleven children they had, none showed special abilities. As weird and unexplainable
as it was, the islanders were not disappointed, nor afraid of losing their
protectors because forty-one years later, new ones were born.
Without a constant number of years
between births, nor a constant quantity of these kind of births and neither a
way to know who would be the next one; they kept the island’s secret. Everybody
feeling safe and sound, knowing that all the attempts of rouge pirates were
easily stopped by their saviors, their protectors.
Like that, all of them hoped to
maintain in peace their home until the superhumans stopped being born. The last
one of them died thirty years ago, there wasn’t a new one or ones.
All the people in the island knew
that being born with the power to protect was a gift and an honor, every child
was risen surrounded by wealth and love, their families with them and an almost
normal life in which they studied whatever they wanted to be in the future,
alongside their protector job. The idea of a family hiding a new protector was
impossible, although they kept the last generations of children in constant
observation.
That’s why no one understood what
happened to lose their saviors. Even if the peace in the border was maintained,
the fear for an attack without no one to defend them, was in all their hearts.
Just as how that night happened.
When this family went back to their
house, the first thing they heard on the radio was the breaking news about the
sight of five pirate ships from the southeast. The contingency plan was known
by everyone, even if the main point in it was the Protectors, so this time the
authorities just needed to do some adjustments, like they called them.
Although all the reassuring from the
government, the fear was taking hold, little by little, of all the islanders.
Will their weapons be enough to stop the pirates of reaching the shore? How
strong and powerful could be the pirates? What if they can’t win without a
Protector?
He was in his room, trying to get a
bit of rest after the hectic last hour in which his family was watching the
news; when suddenly all his surroundings changed. The controlled environment
inside his bedroom was abruptly transformed in the humid warm of the sea, the
music that was playing in his phone became the sound of the ocean and its
waves, the roof was no more, just the sky full of stars in a moonless night.
He wasn’t laying on the bed, he was in
the deck of a ship. Everything was dark, he was behind some plastic boxes. He
wasn’t sure if the sway of the ship or the fear was making him dizzy. His heart
was pounding like crazy, his eyes going from thing to thing while his ears were
focused in all the sounds, almost happy that the voices weren’t close enough to
understand.
When his legs had the strength
enough to support him, he stood up and saw beyond the deck. His island was in front,
all the tiny lights shimmering in calm, like if the inhabitants were as relaxed
as it looked. That sight almost made him puke out of fear.
Why he was there? How did he came?
Could it be that something threw him there?
“Our powers are yours now, use them
to protect our home.” Even if he knew the voice was inside his head, he turned
around and searched for the owner, not knowing if it was a woman or a man.
“Th-this can’t be…” He took a step
back and stumbled with the ropes in the ground, his numbness was so big that
not even the edge of the deck was enough to stop him. He fell backwards to the
sea, but he didn’t reach the water.
With all his thoughts in shambles,
he noticed too late how he was floating in the air, a few centimeters above the
sea. All his body froze, he couldn’t understand how he was doing it, neither if
he could control it, he was just too scared.
“Calm down, please, we won’t be able
to help you too much, you need to learn quickly.” The voice was still in his
head, though he couldn’t determined the gender of the speaker, he knew they
were concerned. “Everything come from the strength of your wishes and your
mind, the power will do what you want if you truly want it.”
If he was in a videogame, this
surely was the tutorial, and although he used to get bored by those, now he was
more than willing to listen carefully and practice. However there was a more
intense feeling than the desire of listening to what the voice offered him, he
wanted to be at home, woke up from this weird dream and keep his normal
activities. “Stop that, this is real.”
He lost balance, his face went down
in the cold and salty water, all the doubts about the reality were cleared
rudely by his teachers. He was sure of that. “Yes, we did it so you can focus”
“Now, go up if you don’t want all
your clothes soaked.”
Without speaking but his mind full
of complaints and fears, he tried until the power answered to him, allowing him
to rise a few meters. “Did you study or know a bit of the powers we, the past
Protectors, had?”
“A bit… I guess…” he finally found
his inner voice, if that’s how it was called.
“Then you’re ready, end with this
troublemakers.”
“What…?”
His body moved once again by itself,
throwing him at the window of the control room. The glass did nothing to his
skin, the impact left the sailor in control astounded for a seconds and, before
he could reach for the emergency signal, a ball of fire was thrown from his
hand to the back of the man. The fire quickly surrounded the man’s body until a
black one was left.
The smell was about to make him
throw up, but again he was stopped when a few men entered the cabin. The fight just
then, began.
When he appeared back in his room,
he was beyond exhausted; even if his clothes were drenched with blood and
sweat, covered in stink of smoke and dust, his mind full of the gore, screams
and the thoughts about his family being safe, he fell asleep.
Feeling like his eyes has just were
shut down, he was woken up by the noisy knocks in the house door. Until then,
the last words of the self-proclaimed “past protectors” made sense in his head:
“You’ll be called by the government, they’ll sent you to train, they’ll know
why until now you were found, so go with them.”
He couldn’t be scared anymore, they convinced
him about the great honor and gift he was granted: the power to protect his
family and loved ones, the pride of being the strongest among all with the
almost unlimited powers he would have. He, being the only one.
He was sent to the Protector’s House,
he was presented to all the islanders through the TV with a short press
conference gave by the government; later he was trained by the last two people
who were close to the last protectors.
In four months he was ready and used
to his new lifestyle. All the people was beyond thankful for his last moment appearance,
all loved how calm and collected he always looked, he was all the reassurance
they needed to feel safe.
The attacks he stopped after the
first one, he was quick and fierce, no doubts or weaknesses shown. He always
smiled to them, whereas tired or hurt, he received their thanks and cheers in
his way back to the house.
It looked perfect once again for the
people. But not for the Protector.
After seven months since his
beginning, a new attack was in sight. This time were twelve ships, all armed
with the strongest weapons for what they could see. Whether they knew something
about the Protector or out of sheer precaution, the people inside the first
ships were no common people.
The fight to stop them was the most ruthless
he ever had, he managed to destroy two of the ships before having to go back to
the island because he was severely injured and needed a moment to rest and
recover. The military kept the attack in the rest of the ships, completely
worried if the alarm about their Protector could be passed.
He was healing himself in the middle
of the planning room, in silence he fixed his bones and closed his injuries
while they discussed all the possibilities. It was not lost, hope was still over
him, as how he was telling them.
Suddenly the alarm went off, the
ships were splitting, one of them retreating. Ignoring the newly served food,
he went out to the cliff were the watchtower was. He ran till the edge of the
cliff, knowing he needed to stop the fleeing ship before his secret was
exposed, however he stopped abruptly at the edge when he was about to jump.
His heart was beating painfully
inside his chest, his lungs were unable to gather enough air. He just couldn’t
jump, fly. All the outside noises were lost, the only things in his head was: I’m scared, what if I can’t do it? I’m
tired, I’m weak.
Instead of jumping in the sea’s
direction, he ran into the Protector House. With a speed faster than the human
eye, he hid himself in the house's basement. All his body trembling, his face
full of cold sweat, his insides rumbling and clenching, aching with all his
muscles and joints.
Among the million and a half people
of the island, he found himself alone. Finally the quiet voice in the back of
his mind surfaced loud and clear, telling him that all the hopes from his
people were a heavy burden for a single person, a single young boy with nothing
more that twenty three years old.
“I never wanted this, I hate it… I
just wanted to be normal, to be one more person and nothing more. I had to kill
my fears and emotions, to be all smiles and calm so they could sleep well while
I was trapped between stress and bottled up feelings… I can’t do it anymore…”
“Rise up again, Protector.” The
voices he stopped hearing since the first time, were back. This time he didn’t
feel like answering. “We’ve been with you all this time, you’re not alone.”
“What’s the use of voices that
didn’t answer before? Voices of death people that can’t physically help me?”
“The new Protectors are soon to be
born, we need you to endure a bit more, to train them” the voice was trying to
pass its calm to him, although he had since long stopped the tremors and panic
attack.
After more than ten minutes in
silence, he said “the moment they’re ready, I’m out of all of this…”
“Your wish will be granted, with all
its meaning.”
That was forever remembered as the
most bloody and fierce battle of the Miracle Protector. A battle that ended
with him in a deep slumber that lasted for two weeks, time that united the
islanders in one prayer for their savior to rest and full recover.
Along with the news of the Protector
waking up, were the news of the four next protectors’ births. It became a
moment of joy, all the happiness returned to them; even if the smile of the Miracle
Protector changed, which only the closest to him noticed, although no one of
them knew the reason.
The years went by, the four children
grew up under the Miracle Protector tutelage. Every one of the four had their
own power, different between them but perfectly matched to help each other. As
they grew up, the help provided to their mentor was more and more until they
were able to take care of everything by themselves.
Eighteen years passed since The
Battle, since the protector won his Miracle Protector title, when he
disappeared. As sudden as he started his miracle, he ended it. All the islanders,
his family and loved ones were surprised, saddened and confused. Not a note, a
sight, a word was left, he was just gone.
His powers came from nowhere when
they were more needed, his presence keep at ease the people and his smile
forever engraved in their memories. He alone carried a heavy burden without
complaints, he made miracles by himself and raised the next generation with
love and courage, with pride and bravery.
“But the light in his eyes was lost
since he woke up from the two weeks slumber” kept saying his family. “The price
for being the strongest, the miracle maker and the light for all of us was more
than we ever saw, so now let him go, pray for his soul find the eternal rest,
show him he was never alone.”
