Instantly, everything around him turned gray, but not just dusky and dark but perpetually silvery and somber. The horizon was an inky blackness which spread out in front of him and he was not sure who was next to him or if the others had run inside. Yet he felt their presence and felt the others who were waiting for them. He turned but could not see his friends at first until they appeared out of the gray, almost touching him.

"Where are we?" Matthew asked.

"You tell me. You’ve been having visions for years."

"I have never seen this in my visions. This place is barren."

Stars appeared in the background, bright and fierce. Suddenly, all around them were bright pinpricks of lights. It was as if they walked into the universe and they were gods. A light formed before them and two figures started to appear. It was a man and a woman. Each wore a blue leather uniform with insignia on the top right. The insignia was not something he had seen before. Both of them were tall and skinny and had almond shaped eyes and milky white skin.

Lazarus said, "Elves."

The man said, "Yes, we are the elves. We don't have much time. Our ship was attacked and we were late to purge the magic from Earth. We are sorry that the world as you know it has been destroyed."

Matthew bowed to these newcomers. "We are here to fulfill our quest."

The elf continued, "My name is Captain Romo and this is my first mate, Lieutenant Lara. The Swarm is coming and you have to stop them."

"The swarm?" Lazarus asked.

"Yes, you have to construct the weapon and insert the key."

"How do we do that?"

"You already have the key. But you have to make the choice. We called you because you have the means to repel the Swarm. But you have to choose how your race will survive."

"I don't understand."

"You will also need help from the Professor from the Future."

Lazarus was stunned. There was too much information and it didn't make sense to him.

Captain Romo said, "You have to choose and it is up to you, The Leader, to come to the decision."

"What decision?"

"You have to understand. We, the elves, were selfish. We knew if the Swarm got to Gaia, or Earth, we would all perish. So we hid Earth's magic with the aid of the Atlanteans. But they also had a weapon that could repel the Swarm for several hundred years."

Captain Romo looked at him and the others.

Lazarus said, "Tell me the choice."

"You have to decide if you want everything back to the way it was before - the world without magic and the earth dying by your pollution and destructive ways."

Lazarus didn't like the sound of that. He said, "Is the earth dying? How long do we have?"

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"The earth will be dead in fifty earth years."

Grace said, "Can you help us? You must know a way to help."

"Yes, there is another way. You have to choose to have magic all over the world. It is the natural lifeblood of Earth, or Gaia."

Lazarus said, "It cannot be that easy."

"No, it is not, Lazarus. If you choose to have the magic back to your land the Swarm will return. They are the eaters of magic and this is the reason we hid the power in the Bastions."

"So," Lazarus said, "both choices are bad. You said there is a way to repel the Swarm."

Lazarus noticed both of the elves had eyes that were dark but flecked with gold, making their pupils look luminous.

Captain Romo said, "Yes. You have to get to the first Bastion and use the key. Then you will be transported to the city of Atlantis. There is a weapon there which can only be used once and it will repel the Swarm."

"It will not destroy them. They are too powerful for that, but will give you, hopefully, enough time to gather your forces."

"How long do we have to choose?"

"Look beyond the stars and you shall see."

The elves disappeared and before them was a picture of earth and all the other planets in the solar system. He saw Mercury, Jupiter and all the other planets. A chorus of stars were all around them. He thought they were swimming in the night, drunk in the shining bright lights.

At the far reaches of their galaxy Lazarus saw something. It was flashes of dark crimson light and it was coming toward them.

Captain Romo said, "The Swarm is not yet here, but they have their agents talking to a man named Royce. He is sent to stop you."

"Why?"

"We don't understand human emotions. But he will try to stop you and no matter which path you take nothing is guaranteed. We have given you all we can to aid you on your journey. But we have a slight problem."

Lazarus said, "Besides everything you told me. What is it?"

The elves appeared to them, floating along the stars, standing in front of them.

Captain Romo said, "When you make your decision and place the key in the main Bastion, you will not have all your powers."

"Great," Lazarus said.

"Please make your decision. You don't have much time."

"How long do we have?" he asked.

"A few minutes at best. Just call out to us when you have decided."

The two elves slowly disappeared into the grayness of the background.

Lazarus turned to his small group. He didn't like this. It was unfair to have him and his friends decide the fate of the world in just a few minutes. He suspected he knew what he wanted to do, but he needed to know how the others felt.

"Well, what do you think? I want to hear all your thoughts, because frankly I really don't know what to do."

Cindy said, "I think everybody here wants everything back the way it was, but if the earth will die in fifty years it’s not worth that choice."

"But what if we find a way to fix the problem," Grace said. Her youthful face looked tense and hopeful.

Matthew said, "If everything is back to normal the people, I mean the leaders, will not believe you."

Grace said, "We will make them believe."

Lazarus said, "How will we do that? If we have everything back to the way it was there will be no magic in the world. The cops will probably throw us in jail and call for the insane asylum doctors to come and pick us up."

Matthew said, "I don't want to go back to the old world. I lived on the streets and starved most of the time."

Lazarus nodded. He recalled that when he first saw the big man coming to him he thought Matthew would beg him for food or money. He was living with the dregs of society.

"So, you vote to keep magic in the world and use the mysterious weapon to repel these invaders?"

"Yes," Matthew said. "Magic should be in this world. It is natural and should not be hidden away. We can do this together."

"Cindy, what do you say?"

"I don't know."

"We have to agree on something."

Grace said, "What do you think?"

"Before I tell you what I think, I want you to know that I loved my old life. It was comfortable and I had no problems. But living that way I would have died alone without doing anything significant in my life. Now I know why I was chosen to be your Leader. I was meant to do more, as well as all of you."

Grace said, "What are you saying?"

"We need to think about more than ourselves. We need to think about humanity and every animal on this earth."