A Hero's Journey

The red dust settled on an Earth that was now dark and grim. Wind and Fire scattered to the corners of the world in awe of the desolated wasteland they created together. Left was a little boy of six years old stranded in what used to be Charleston, South Carolina. Buildings that once stood tall were now resting in pieces along with the town. The boy, Easton, stood in the middle of the street holding on to the only thing he had left of the old world, a heart-shaped locket, a charm he has had since he can remember, passed down for generations, as told by his father. He opens the locket remembering the words his father spoke when placing the locket around his neck, "this locket holds the key to the universe, son, always protect it."

Easton opens the locket, missing his father, who was lost during the gamma-ray burst that wiped out most of the planet. A thin blue illuminated line threads its way from his locket to a place he cannot yet determine has an end. He drops the locket surprised, and as it closes, the illuminated blue line disappears. He quickly picks up the locket and re-opens it, and the illuminated blue line re-appears. He quickly places the locket gently around his neck, so he doesn't lose it and follows the illuminated blue trail to its destination.

He is led to the outskirts of town near where the woods were dense. Beyond the woods, the land opens up to the vast Atlantic Ocean. The illuminated blue light leads him to Sullivan's Island Lighthouse. Now dark, he opens the door and climbs his way to the top, where he comes to see a figure standing at the top.

"Hello," Easton calls out to get the figure's attention.

"Hello Easton, I've been waiting for you, my name is Allen, come, we don't have much time."

"How do you know who I am? Where are we going? What do we not have much time for?" Easton asks in rapid succession.

Allen turns towards Easton; he can now see in the light of the full moon overhead that Allen is not human at all but a galactic alien. His skin is metallic lime green; his head is somewhat bulbous with two big black eyes, he has three fingers and one thumb, and he stands at about four feet tall.

Easton is overjoyed at the discovery of Allen's nature. "Will you be my friend!?" Easton exclaims loudly.

"I already am," replies Allen, "in this dimension, and every other." With this, Easton engulfs Allen in a deep embrace. "Now come, we must leave here now; we have a long journey ahead of us."

Eston follows Allen down to the shoreline, where they embark on a small boat to the coast of Ireland.

"Where are we going?" Easton implores once again.

"We are journeying to the shores of Ireland to seek a wish from the Sea Goddess Clena Rèal. Legend says that every ninth wave is sacred to her, and if you cast a small pearl placed in a double shell wrapped in seaweed on the ninth wave while you speak your wish and it reaches the shore, the Goddess will grant you your wish." With the newfound knowledge, the boy fell fast asleep under the endless stars of the milky way galaxy as the pair of friends traveled by sea to the shores of Ireland.

Easton wakes up as dawn breaks, and Allen lets him know that they are right off the Irish coast. They make their way in on a seamlessly effortless tide and begin preparing their tribute to the Sea Goddess. At exactly nine in the morning, Easton and Allen set their wrapped pearl abreast the ninth wave and wish for the aid of the Sea Goddess in traveling the galaxies to help restore Earth to what it once was in its natural beauty, so that life may once begin again.

Easton and Allen sit and wait on the beach and take in the Ireland coastline views. The sea was vast and turquoise with waves that broke peacefully and quietly onshore. When you turned around, you could see rich green mountains teeming with moss and trees for miles.

As the sun sets, Easton and Allen see a woman riding in on a wave coming closer to the shoreline. The sunshine seems to be chasing her. She appears to have the top of a woman but the bottom of a fish. A beautiful crown made of shells adorns her head, and octopi accompany her. She commands power, peace, love, and light. When she speaks, it's like you are listening to your favorite music.

"A wish you have spoken, and I have heard. I bring you a gift from the sea, a gift once lost, and one that has always been yours, Allen. Easton, your locket holds the key to the universe. Use it to find Ton Quasar. He lives among the Sunflower Galaxy. If you get lost, look for what shines the brightest in all of the galaxies, and you will find Ton. He holds what you are seeking. I have one last gift to impart upon you before your journey." The Sea Goddess then places a magical necklace with a live starfish around Allen and Easton's necks. "This will protect you on your journey through the cosmos."

Allen and Easton quickly leave Earth's atmosphere and travel past Earth's Moon and the other planets in the Milky Way Galaxy, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Easton gawked at how big the five dwarf planets were when seen so close. They passed the Andromeda Galaxy and continued towards the Sunflower Galaxy twenty-seven million light-years away from Earth.

The illuminated blue light from Easton's locket seemed to grow stronger and pulse almost with a heartbeat as the two grew ever closer to the Sunflower Galaxy. The two could now make out a very bright blue light in the distance, shining brighter than anything else in all of the galaxies they had seen so far. As they got closer, the blue light seemed to pull them in towards it. They arrive at the bright blue light and park their space vehicle on the spinning blue rings that encircle a large black hole. Allen and Easton get out of the spacecraft. Easton is donned in space gear that Allen has provided and looks foreign to Easton, unlike anything he has ever seen on Earth. Before they have a chance to say anything, a man appears from the black hole.

"Easton! I've been waiting for you! I'm so glad you made it." The man is tall and radiates with the light of a thousand galaxies. His skin seems to be made up of a million stars, and his eyes look like beautiful nebulas. He adorns a single piece of jewelry, a heart-shaped locket that matches that of Eastons.

"Your locket!" Easton exclaims. Noticing the similarities between his and the one the man is wearing.

"Yes, my prized possession, it holds the key to the universe. I'm Ton. Nice to meet you." Ton takes the locket from around his neck to reveal what is inside, the Metatron Cube. "This is the answer to fixing your Earth, son." He hands the cube to Easton. "Protect it and take it back to Earth; you're running out of time; come this way." Ton gestures towards the black hole.

"With all due respect, sir, won't we be shredded to bits and our residual information left to reside with you here on these blue rings eternally if we do that?" Allen speaks up in a quiet panic.

"Walk along the path unknown; it all belongs to the other side, son." With that, Allen and Easton walk through the black hole and journey through the galaxy back to Earth.

Allen is pleasantly relieved to find that his bits have not been shredded and left to a galaxy millions of light-years away. Allen and Easton arrive back to an Earth that pre-dates the gamma-ray burst and a world filled with tragedy, loss, chaos, and war. They are on the South Carolina Beach at the Sullivan's Island Lighthouse once more. Easton races to the top with the Metatron Cube and places it in the lighthouse's bulb housing. Suddenly there is a bright blue flash of light, and Easton is knocked unconscious.

When Easton comes too a few hours later with Allen by his side, Allen is smiling. He is in his own bed, and his mother and father are there smiling over him. He looks outside and can see that the trees are once again beautiful, and the grass is green. He looks up at the sky through his window at the stars shining bright and notices one that shines slightly brighter than all the rest. He smiles as he closes his eyes and falls into a deep, peaceful sleep.