Aaric snapped back to the sound of rain hitting window panes. What had he been doing all this time? He turned his head down at his rubber-gloved hands and perceived that they held dishes.
“That’s right, I’m washing dishes,” Aaric thought. As he continued to thoroughly scrub and rinse the china, Aaric’s mind naturally wandered to the order of his day. It would be finishing the dishes first, making some tea and snacks, reading a good book in the study, planning the rest of his week, and then going to sleep. Upon finishing his thoughts, Aaric discovered that he’d finished placing all the wet dishes onto the rack. Taking off his gloves was the first manner of action, a step he forgot momentarily. With some difficulty, Aaric forced the rubber gloves off both of his hands, starting with the left hand and ending with the right. After placing the gloves on the rack, Aaric stepped over to the overhead racks of cooking utensils, reached for the whistling pot, filled the pot with water, and placed it on the stove. With a satisfying click, the stove was on. A thought suddenly popped into Aaric’s head. ‘Select a book in the meantime.’ With his right foot in front first, Aaric walked towards his father’s study.
As usual, the study had an overwhelming presence. Out of all the rooms, the study was the largest and most decorated. Many dark oak shelves filled with many books lined the walls of the study, and on one wall there stood the two desks, one empty and the other carrying a computer, and on the opposite wall was embedded a quaint fireplace prepared with fresh logs ready to be lit. In the center of the room was a ring of armchairs, all facing a single coffee table. After quickly shaking off the feeling, Aaric perused the bookshelves for a book suiting his qualifications.
“William Shakespeare… John Green… Harper Lee… None of these are appropriate for this serene rain. Oh, what’s that?” Aaric was look up towards a book with its edge peeking out from the top of a bookshelf.
“I’ve noticed that book in the study. Father must have procured earlier this week.” Aaric obtained a step ladder and propped it up on its feet. Upon stepping onto the ladder, Aaric discovered that it was just short of allowing him to easily reach the book. A cold wind blew through the study, filling him with a strange surge of determination. Aaric outstretched his arm towards the book, but even then, Aaric couldn’t reached the book, but this did not deter Aaric. He lightly jumped at the book, just barely touching it. With each jump, the book slide out further from the top of the shelf, revealing its true size to Aaric.
“Oh my, that is no book. It’s a tome!” Aaric thought midair. His finger barely grazed the tome, but that was enough to cause the tome to begin a slow teetering.
“Oh dear.” The tome fell from the top bookshelf.
“Ouch...” Aaric looked at his surroundings. He was on the floor next to a giant gaudy green book. In that instant, Aaric heard the teapot whistling. Immediately, Aaric placed himself on his two feet and began a brisk walk towards the kitchen.
***
Aaric walked into the study once more, this time carrying a tray that held a teacup of milk tea and the butterscotch cookies he made yesterday. He made steps towards the coffee table and placed the tray on the table. After placing the tray onto the table, Aaric approached the green tome and lifted it up from the ground.
“What is this?” After examining the strange cover. As he opened the book and began flipping the pages, Aaric walked towards an armchair and sat down.
The contents of the books, initially, did not interest Aaric. The tome had no discernible useful information, contained terrible and almost childish drawings, and in general was mostly uninteresting. It was strange to Aaric, however, that he continued reading, as a book of this quality would garner his undutiful rejection and the shelf. He continued to flip through the pages, reading about the lore of an unknown land, where intelligent creatures known as digimon lived and thrived. Royal Knights, Fallen Angels, Salvation of a lost world, all of these themes present were familiar to Aaric, as he already read books on such topics. After quite some time had passed, Aaric noticed that he had consumed all his reading snacks and that the light was quite dim. He briskly walked towards a light switch and flip it on, illuminating the room. Returning back to the book, Aaric continued on page he was about to finish. Upon turning a page, his eye caught something: The Ten Legendary Warriors. Aaric was filled with awe and wonder as he read the lore of these warriors. After reading through the Warriors of fire, light, thunder, and wind, he reached the warrior of Ice.
“What a juxtaposition between appearances of these warriors! An adorable snow cub versus a intimidating polar bear!” Aaric thought. As he continued to read however, his focus became more fixated on the ice warriors. It was almost as if these characters were staring back at him. Aaric was suddenly pulled back into reality by a blinding streak lightning. In few moments, the lights flickered and finally turned off. Aaric sat there in the darkness and perceived that it was cold. He walked towards the fireplace, grabbed the firestarter, and lit the fire. After putting the protective screen in front of the fire place, Aaric went back to reading the book. He continued to flip through the pages, reading about water, earth, wood, and steel.
Aaric flipped the page. Immediately Aaric was filled with dread as he looked upon the description of warrior of darkness. He didn’t know when or where, but he felt a presence in the room. Aaric desired to look away from the book, but he couldn’t. His neck was like stone, and his eyes were fixated on the book, forcing upon him the information. Upon finishing long moments, he finished the page, and immediately, a humid and foul wind blew through the fireplace, extinguishing the fire. He was frozen in the darkness, unable to position his body into a curl nor move his vision to anywhere in the room.
*Click*
Beads of sweat began to travel from skin to floor. The presence was in front of him…
*KABOOM!!!* Aaric screamed as light flooded the room. Fear and shock were the main things going through his mind. Though he did not notice it, deep in his mind, Aaric gained an image: A dark ominous figure dressed in ghastly white, pointing a firearm towards his face. As Aaric slowly recovered from his shock, he noticed electronic sounds coming from behind him. Inch by inch, Aaric turned his head behind his chair. His father’s computer was on, flashing across the screen a myriad numbers, and threads of electricity licked the surroundings. Aaric did not think, nor could he. All he could do was to hold the tome firmly within his arms and slowly walk towards the screen. As he grew closer to the computer, the area around him became bright and brighter. The snakes of electricity jumped towards him, causing him to recoil slightly. Despite that, he slowly inched towards the computer, eventually noticing the words: “Your destiny has arrived.” The light became blinding.
Aaric stood there dazed. He felt the dampness and dimness of a cave, yet strangely the atmosphere was strangely calm, even serene. Aaric turned around. His grip loosened as he recognized the creature described in the book that he had just dropped.