Light of Aetheon (Excerpt)

Gabrion Amana counted all the coins in his wallet frantically. He counted two, three, four small silver New Federacy Coins and added them to a stack of coins that he had already counted on the dashboard of his parents’ parked aero-mobile.

Even with the silver New Federacy Coins, he didn’t have enough money. He hoped that he would’ve made enough this month for rent, but there just wasn’t enough. He would have to pull from his savings if he wanted to keep his apartment.

Gabrion took a deep breath as he leaned back into the driver’s seat. He hoped he would be able to put some money in his savings to go to the college he was accepted into months ago, but that would have to wait a while. His hands were shaking from worrying about the money, but he tried to keep them still. Gabrion’s fourth-grade little sister would arrive from school any moment, and he didn’t want her to see him worried.

Gabrion only had time to slip the coins back into his wallet before he heard a knock on the aero-mobile’s window. Gabrion could only see two sets of cornrows put into buns outside, but he opened the door, knowing that it was his little sister.

The short girl hopped into the aero-mobile and slung her pastel pink backpack onto the floor with a wide grin. “Gabrion! Are you ready? Are you ready?”

Gabrion couldn’t help but crack a smile at his little sister’s excitement. “You know I’m ready, Miri. I’ve got all our supplies in the back-“

“All the snacks, the tent, the sleeping bags, the passports, everything?” Miri interrupted, bouncing her legs energetically.

“You don’t have to worry, I double-checked for everything,” Gabrion assured Miri as he pulled out of Miri’s school, the aero-mobile lifting off and gradually drifting into the traffic in the sky.

Miri let out a small squeal. Gabrion had planned a much-needed camping trip for the two of him and his sister so they could get away from the stresses of the world while Miri was on spring break. But, it wasn’t going to be a typical camping trip for either of them.

“I’ve never been to Aetheon before!” Miri blurted. “But you’ve been there so many times! What’s it like?”

“It’s kind of hard to describe it all. But there’s a lot of strange creatures there.”

Aetheon, in fact, did have lots of strange creatures that some have thought came straight from a fantasy story. But that wasn’t surprising at all, since Aetheon wasn’t on Earth.

Many generations ago, Earth’s greatest scientists discovered an anomaly on Earth that bent space. Though it was unstable for a while, scientists discovered a way to keep the anomaly contained and self-sustaining, creating a portal to another planet, Aetheon.

Aetheon flourished with lots of life, with lush landscapes that were filled with unique animals that Earth could only dream of- from lightning slugs that zipped around the sky producing lightning bolts, to the mysterious anglermaids that swam in the dark depths of the oceans unless their curiosity lured them to the surface. For a long time, scientists from all over the globe studied Aetheon, making incredible discoveries of new creatures.

After a while, scientists deemed Aetheon to be safe for people from Earth to travel to, and people from all around the world started moving there to start new lives.

Many people wanted to get away from the technological advancements Earth had made in the decades prior, so technology wasn’t an important part of Aetheon. In fact, most of the technology from Earth was forbidden. So, the people that moved to Aetheon built their new lives from the ground up. Societies started to develop as people came together to form colonies, which grew to be functioning towns and cities. Tours were given of the most beautiful parts of the fantasy-like world to visitors who didn’t want to move to Aetheon, but still wanted to escape their homeworld for a little while.

Gabrion was one of the tour guides in Aetheon. He showed visitors from Earth around, pointing out the unique species, helping tourists not get lost, and protecting them from any possible dangers in the fascinating new planet. It was a unique job that was always full of adventures, but some days, Gabrion wished that he could’ve found a more normal job.

“How was work today?” Miri asked, breaking Gabrion out of his thoughts. “Weren’t you giving someone a tour today?”

Gabrion grimaced. He didn’t really want to talk about work today. “Yeah, I was supposed to. And I did, but it was just a lot… shorter than it was supposed to be.”

“Shorter?”

“Yeah, I was guiding this couple around a town near the portal to Aetheon, but right after we got in town, someone tried to mug the couple.”

“And you fought them away, right? You’re really strong!” Miri exclaimed.

“You’re right, I did. That thug had no business with me,” Gabrion replied with a smile.

Even though he answered his sister with a smile, Gabrion quietly sighed. Muggings were fairly rare in Aetheon, though he was ready to fend thieves off when he needed to. He had successfully protected the tourists he was guiding- no harm had come to them at all- but the tourists quickly left without as much as thanking Gabrion for what he had done for them.

The tourists were supposed to pay him a good amount of money. They were supposed to help keep him from having to pull money out of his savings to pay for Gabrion’s and Miri’s apartment. But the couple refused to pay him, saying that their shortened trip “wasn’t worth paying for”.

Gabrion didn’t want Miri to know about the stress he had been through that day, so he quickly changed the topic. “So, how was school today?”

Miri shrugged as she pulled a dirty Rubik’s cube out of her backpack. “Some of the fifth-graders took my Rubik’s cube again. They kept it for all of recess and said that bringing toys to school is for preschoolers. They only gave it back ’cause their teacher told them to.”

“It sounds like they’re a bunch of bullies. They don’t know the real reason why you bring it to school. It’s okay to bring it to school, your teacher said it’s fine,” Gabrion assured.

Miri always brought her Rubik’s cube into school; fidgeting with it was a good way to help her stay focused during classes. Her school had approved of it, but not every kid in Miri’s school understood why she needed the Rubik’s cube.

Miri was an ADHD’er, so focusing on long lessons had been more difficult for her. But, she was still very smart, she just needed help every so often, and fidgeting with her Rubik’s cube helped her pay attention in class.

“Yeah, I know it’s fine.” Miri started to twist the sides of the Rubik’s cube around. Even though she didn’t know the pattern to solve it, she still liked to play with it. “Oh, we also started learning about all the rulers of Aetheon in social studies. That was pretty cool.”

“What’d you learn about them?” Gabrion asked, even though he knew the history of the rulers of Aetheon since he had gone to the same school when he was her age.

“Well… the first king of Aetheon was… Aug- Auga- something that started with ‘Aug.’”

“King Augmantas the First?”

“Yeah, him!” Miri exclaimed. “It was about 500 years ago, and everyone who lived in Aetheon was at war with each other. But Augmantas was a gentle leader of a small country, and he didn’t like all the war that was destroying Aetheon. He wanted to keep Aetheon a pure place, so he went to explore the world for friends that would help him make peace with everyone.

“And while he was looking for friends in the war, my teacher said that he got the power of light! Then he made peace with the world and became king! So he was kinda like a superhero!”

“Do you know how King Augmantas got his powers? Or why he became the king?” Gabrion asked.

Miri fell silent for a moment. “No, I don’t remember what my teacher said. Sorry.”

Gabrion nodded. “It’s alright. I know you’re trying your best. I can help you out if you want.”

“Yes, please,” Miri softly replied, sliding further into the passenger seat.

“Alright, the first king of Aetheon was looking for allies, like you said,” Gabrion started. “He built an alliance that would help stop all the arguing between the different countries, and brought all of his allies to a mountain to keep them safe.”

“While they were there, the summer solstice arrived, and something strange happened. Lots of stories say that a mist covered the mountain and everyone fell asleep from it except for Augmantas. From what Augmantas told people, there were Creatures of Light that came down from the sky. For his love of Aetheon and courage to set things right, they wanted to help him stop the war and granted him the power to manipulate light. After that, Augmantas left the mountain able to create weapons of light.

“Augmantas stopped the war with his powers. His light let him gain the attention of everyone, and he led all the people of Aetheon to start making peace with one another. After the war across all of Aetheon ended, many countries wanted Augmantas to help lead them. He was a very wise man and a confident leader, everyone wanted his guidance.

“So Aetheon made Augmantas their first king. The people were happy that he helped so many countries heal from the war and improved people’s lives. Everyone loved him, and even when he was old, the people of Aetheon still wanted a leader to look out for the whole world.

“So, his daughter took the throne when King Augmantas passed away. She gained the same powers as her father when she traveled to the same mountain on the day her father got his powers, the summer solstice. After that, there were generations of kings and queens of Aetheon with the power of light, their firstborn child always being the one to have the gift.”

Miri nodded along. “You might have to tell me about all that again once spring break is almost over so I remember for school! Right now, let’s just get to Aetheon!”