Chapter Fifty-Three

Epilogue

The Twin Conspirators

Every beginning has an end, but every end is just another beginning.

Elisium

6L 1/15/1/1

"There it comes. Bring it to the shore."

Commander Mark said looking at the transparent glass cubicle that popped out of the water. It was the first morning of the Crossing, and Commander Mark was posted at the Demon's entrance, officially known as The Solomon Arcade. "This one looks much better than the pods we received during the last crossing. They have upgraded the design," he added.

Commander Arnold, Elisium's Ambassador to Aden, was the first person to walk out of the cubicle. "Hello, Mark. I must say that King James has a nasty sense of humor. The last thing the tourists arriving from Aden want to see is Marcus's duplicate welcoming them at the entrance. Many of them might want to jump straight back into the whirlpool."

"It is not my fault that God made me like this. Trust me, the moment we develop the technology that can change a person's face, I would be the first one to go for it. I'm tired of people giving me vicious stares and anxious looks."

"They sent you back in a much better pod than the one they sent me in last time around." Smith came forward to greet Arnold.

Arnold hugged his old friend. "This is such a great invention. I didn't even get a wrinkle on my suit. This is so much better than directly jumping into that swirling mass of water."

"So how many visas did you issue there?" Smith asked.

"More than ten thousand tourist visas and some four thousand business visas. A team comprising of two thousand individuals made up of engineers, technicians, doctors, scientists and other professionals who are supposed to stay here till the next Crossing will arrive on the fourth day of adversity."

"Two thousand professionals! King Shaun is taking the cooperation treaty quite seriously."

"Yes. He will not relax till he has fulfilled his promise and turned Elisium into Aden. Markl, you are going to have extremely busy seven days verifying all these documents."

"That is quite less compared to what officers at their end will have to endure. Joseph, their Ambassador in Elisium, has issued about twenty thousand tourist visas and five thousand business visas. He has introduced a new student visa policy, where our students can go to Aden for further studies and stay there for the full mini-cycle. There was a mad dash for these visas amongst the youngsters and Joseph closed it on three thousand visas for this Crossing. I had to use all my sources to secure one such visa for my son."

Smith furrowed his brow. "Will they be able to transport all these people back and forth in time? The last thing we want is the portal to close with hordes of tourists stranded in the wrong world for seven years."

"I just hope nothing like this happens?" Arnold said and then he turned to Mark. "I must inform you before I forget that tomorrow morning you are to receive the most high-profile delegation. HighMinister of Aden, John Paul Andrews, is arriving tomorrow to pay a visit to King James. Irrespective of his post and the fact that he is our king's otherworld-twin, he is a very close friend of King James. Just make sure that he gets a grand reception."

***

John entered Queen Jennifer the Reborn memorial, one of the most opulent buildings of the Capital. He was escorted to a magnificently decorated chamber in a corner of the building which housed the tomb of Jennifer.

"Quite an unusual venue for a meeting," John said greeting his old friend who was standing beside his wife's grave.

"Hello John, pleased to see you after such a long time. I thought that on this official visit you would first like to pay your respects to the Savior who saved our worlds."

"That was so considerate of you" John quipped. "Seeing you standing here with moist eyes, would lure anyone into believing that you actually loved your deceased wife, but unfortunately I know the truth."

"What makes you think otherwise?"

"For starters, the fact that you killed her."

"Well, my feelings for Jennifer are quite complicated and not easy to understand. I was already in love with Emily, my current wife before I pursued Jennifer. Not out of any love or infatuation, but purely for the pursuit of this power. For ages, since the time of Andrews and Matthews, our families had given everything for the betterment of these worlds, even sacrificed their lives, but never reaped the rewards. I just wanted to change that."

John sighed. "Yes, I can relate to that. Shaun was crowned as the King in Aden when it was my father who started the rebellion and it was I who took it forward. Shaun was just a face to attract people. But your charming wife, and everyone else, deemed him fit to be the king just because he was born in the right family."

"That is the question I kept asking myself, why them? Why not us? We had done a lot more for these worlds than them. I wanted to change this scenario forever. Moses's untimely death and Jennifer becoming the chosen one provided me with a golden opportunity. I thought that the best way to bridge this gap was to merge the two families forever. Becoming the better half of the savior herself would forever bind her, with all her powers and influence, to me. That is why I pursued Jennifer."

"That was a very long shot I must say."

"Not really, because I was very close to her father. We were neighbors and I was also an integral part of David's army. Through him, I came to know about the fact that she can't conceive. I kept a close eye on her. I noticed that she was trying her best to bury her romantic side and thus had become emotionally vulnerable. I took advantage of that. George was very impressed with me. I told him about my feelings for Jennifer, and being a concerned father who didn't want his daughter to spend her life all alone, he helped me get close to her. It took me years to win over her heart. I had to even throw myself in front of bullets, although I was quite confident that she will somehow save me. In the end, it worked out quite well."

"I had seen immense love for you in her eyes. You were even able to pull her out of her trance on the night she was blowing up Aurae. It is hard to believe that it wasn't true love."

"That is why I told you it's complicated. I loved Emily, but she allowed me to go after Jennifer to fulfill my dreams. She sacrificed all those years of her life waiting for me. I couldn't have turned my back on her. But Jennifer was such a sweet girl herself. It was hard not to fall in love with her as well. It was like I had two hearts, one beat for Emily and the other for Jennifer."

"If you loved her then why did you kill her?"

James closed his eyes and took a deep long breath. "I didn't kill her. I just eased her pain. You had already seen her condition after the war. It just kept getting worst. She was shattered from within. She had nightmares and could never sleep. She was never able to shrug off that burden from her soul. And then, quite miraculously, we were blessed with a true heir to her throne. I waited for that boy to be born before putting Jennifer out of her misery. My medical expertise helped me in doing that without raising any suspicions."

John chuckled. "Don't tell me you wouldn't have killed her if she wasn't sick. If she would have lived, you would have remained the Queen's husband for your entire life, You would have never become the King. You wouldn't have been able to marry Emily, your first love, either. So cut that crap about mercy killing."

"I don't want to think about what if. Assuming that I just did her a favor by ending her misery, helps me overcome the guilt of killing someone I truly loved."

"I still don't understand one thing. Why did you let her give birth to her son? You could have finished her before that and claimed the throne."

"Once again the family name came back to haunt me. Seeing Jennifer's deteriorating condition, there were already whispers about who was going to succeed her. Marcus had done me a great favor by blowing up David, so that chapter was closed, but his son Gabriel had grown into a fiery young man. As he was the grandson of George, son of David, and belonged to the true line of Kings many people were already putting their weight behind him."

"So how did her son help you in this matter?" John asked.

"Once Jennifer's son was born, whom I named George as an apparent tribute to his revolutionary grandfather, he automatically became the unanimous choice. Everyone wanted the son of their Savior to lead them whenever he became eligible to do so. I was unopposedly crowned as the King-Regent after Jennifer's death and was tasked to look after the true heir. So my unplanned son was a blessing in disguise, or else I would have never got the throne."

"So now what is your plan going further."

"In less than a year, George will become an adult and will be crowned the King. I will let him stay there for a couple of years and then have him meet an accident. By that time, David, my son from Emily, will have come off age and I will ensure that the crown swiftly passes from one brother to another."

"One thing still intrigues me. Why can't George live and rule as king, after all, he is your son as well?"

"I did all this scheming with just one goal in my mind, to alter the line of Kings. To change the name on that crown. When George will become the King, he will be seen as the heir of David and Solomon and the same old line of Kings will continue. There will be no change. But when David becomes the King, he will rule as David Matthews, an heir of Matthews the Genius, and start a new legacy. And that is what I wanted to achieve, right from the beginning."

John curled his lips. "You will kill your son to start a legacy?"

"No defining point in history is without its shades of grey. No great legacy starts without a sacrifice and I am quite prepared to make one for this cause. When you aim for the stars, you must be prepared to sink to the depths."

"I must say that I am quite impressed by your dedication towards this change." John's tone didn't show whether that was a statement of appreciation or a jibe aimed at James.

"Now you tell me your plans. Fourteen years ago, during the battle of Aurae, I had told you about my plans to put our families where they belong. I have sorted out my side of things, now you tell me what are you up to?"

"Things at my side are a little more complex. Being the King's mentor, I have the King and the whole Council firmly under my control. However, unlike you, I am not the husband of the Savior and hence have been stuck in the position of the HighMinister for fourteen years. But if something happens to the king, while his son is still underage, I being the HighMinister and the most revered figure in Aden would unanimously be appointed the King-Regent. Once I get the throne I will take care of Shaun's son as well. But I must quickly make my moves because time is running out on me."

"I am planning to visit Aden in the next Crossing. Hopefully, by that time, you will be the King and I will be the King-Father. May the names of Matthews and Andrews live forever in these worlds. For the time being, let me take you out of this crypt and treat you to a feast in the Grand Palace of Elisium."

The two otherworld twins, friends and co-conspirators, walked out of the memorial.

Unholy dark clouds of wicked conspiracies had begun to form over the two worlds, all over again. Two powerful men had tasted the fruit of rapacity and human greed is, after all, the root of all evil.

Aden and Elisium were witnessing a tremendous period of prosperity, but nothing lasts forever.

Neither war nor peace.

Neither despair nor joy.

Every beginning has an end.

And every end is just another beginning.

Maybe, it was time for another Adam, or Solomon, or Jennifer to arrive in these worlds.

***

"A man is floating in the river. He may have jumped directly into the whirlpool. Get him to the bank," Commander Kelvin shouted to his subordinate. A few soldiers jumped into the river and brought him ashore.

"What the hell were you trying to do?" Kelvin asked the stranger. "You are not supposed to jump directly into the Abyss. You must come through the pod. Where are your documents?"

"What documents?"

"Documents to enter Aden."

"What is Aden?"

Kelvin's face was flushed. "The place you illegally tried to enter by jumping into the whirlpool."

"I don't know what you are talking about. A few days ago, my friends and I started a journey to explore the Great Sea. We wanted to see what lies beyond it. We were hopeful we might discover some new civilizations across the sea. But because of the Passing," he pointed to Elisium hanging over their heads, "we countered severe storms, and our ship was sucked into a whirlpool. I thought I was going to drown but moments later I emerged here."

"Where do you live in Elisium?"

The stranger looked at Kelvin with wide eyes. "I don't know anything about Elisium. I come from Astrum, Aether's capital."

"Sir more people are emerging in the water." One of the soldiers pointed to Kelvin.

"They might be my friends."

"What is your name?" Kelvin asked the stranger.

"Andrews," he replied, "people in Astrum call me Andrews the Explorer."

THE END