This is my first fanfic, and English isn't my native language. So expect some errors in grammar or in the story. If you found any, I’ll be glad if you let me know, so I can fix them and improve.

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In this earth there are some especial crystals that are doors. Doors to places unknown, to dimensions unknown. This crystals are so rare, that the possibility that you could find two, is astronomically low.

But there was once a man, who found two of them. His name was Aaron, and now he’s trapped inside one of them.

In that place, time goes by so slow, that the minutes seems like hours, and the hours seems like days. After a while he lost his sense of time. He didn’t know if he had been there for months, years, or even longer.

Inside you can't age. Your body remains the same, as it did when you were sealed.

Cold and dark. That was all there was to the place, he had been confined, so long ago. He no longer had the mental strength to resist the loneliness. But he knew he wouldn’t let go of his life because he had something to do.

Or to say it better, he has something to finish. He craved that thing, so much that after this long time, he still could embrace his sanity. At first he wanted to forget. He wished that the grand and caring arms of the flow of time, would let him forgive the ones that put him here. But he soon realized that, that rage, was the only thing that was keeping him from losing his mind or worse.

The thing he wanted was revenge. Revenge against those who betrayed him, and left him to rot in there. The very ones that were his friends. One of them even more, his lover. The pain that came after, was second only to the rage he had felt. Once more he was remembering, to keep himself in check. Something that had become like a mantra to prevent his mind from breaking.

All of a sudden there was light around him, and he was back once more in that hateful cave. He felt dizzy and confused to be back, after so much time. The sight, the smells. Feeling the cold air of the cave against his skin. Those sensations forgotten long ago, were too much for him, to handle. He fell to the rocky cave floor.

Standing up, and stretching his muscles. Beginning to accept the fact he was back, he saw four guys right in front of him. One of them, was lying on the floor unconscious. With a more precise evaluation, he looked young. About the same age as him, when he was doomed to spend an eternity trapped in that place.

The three others looked like mercenaries. They were using some kind of bulky armor. And before long the biggest of them all, started talking. It took him a few seconds, to listen the words the man had said. So much time had passed, without him been able to listen another person’s voice that he got lost at that marvelous sound.

Coming back to reality, his brain started processing what he had heard.

- So it’s true what that guy told us about this crystal, it really was a magical crystal. But who is this guy? It looks to be a boy. – Said the man.

- What do we now boss? – Answered one of the guys. From the conversation and from the looks of it, the first man was the leader. The guy on the floor seemed to be a part of them, but he couldn’t be so sure.

- The plan stays the same. The three go grab the one that’s standing, to interrogate him. I'll kill Alex over here. – Said the leader.

Things were progressing quite fast. Not five minutes had passed since returning, and he was already in troubles.

- It looks like you’re not a rescuing party. So let me ask you a few things. Before getting rid of you. – Said Aaron.

The mercenaries were taken aback, by the act of Aaron threatening them. But they soon recovered and advanced towards him.

- Jajaja sorry man. We came for a treasure. But I am very surprised, to have found that you were inside that crystal, and not our treasure – _The leader said this while easing up his guard, and laughing at the same time_ - But you are going to tell us everything you know, one way or another. -

- You think so? It’s pretty clear to me what’s going to happen. It’s you who is going to tell me everything you know, while the rest will be serving as my punching bags. – _Aaron was itching for a fight, so he could loosen up his muscles and stretch them_ - So surrender guys, and everything will be much easier.

- You’re a very funny kid. Still, be a good boy, and let yourself be captured. Stop wasting my time, and go get him guys! – Answered the leader.

- Well you can’t said I didn’t give you chance. -

With a swift move Aaron disappeared, before appearing right in front of the two guys on the back. With a punch in their guts, he throw them across the cave.

Remembering the words in his mind, and letting the power flow within him. Aaron raised his hands, letting the magic free. A magic he had not felt traveling through his body, for a long time. A very long time.

The three mercenaries were throw through the air. Like there were nothing more that some weightless rag dolls. Aaron felt some magic power emanating from the leader and the guy lying on the ground. That should have been impossible. But then he remembered why his so called friends, had betrayed him.

“This must be the aftermaths of when they sealed me away. It looks like everyone can use magic now” he thought.

Disarming them and pressing their bodies against the rocky ceiling with magic, he started the conversation again.

- I can sense you know some magic. But you’re so weak you couldn’t possible hurt me, unless I was in a catatonic state. Now you’re going to tell everything you know. Starting by what are you doing here, and finishing by telling me what date it is. -

Because it had been so long since he used magic, he didn’t want to torture them too much. After all he might not be able to restrain himself, and kill them with a flick of his hand.

- Here is some incentive, to get you guys talking. - Aaron said this while making the fingers of their hands twist in an unnatural way. The fingers couldn’t resist the pressure and started to break, making some pop sounds. Their screams were silenced as he casted some magic around them.

After a while Aaron stopped, and let their bodies travel to the ground. In the process breaking their legs. He felt it would be pointless to harm them any longer, and asked them:

- Do you want to talk now? Tell me everything you know and since you had freed me, I might heal as a reward. –

- St… stop! Just stop please I’ll tell you everything… just don’t torture us anymore – It was the boss who answered. Even after everything the other two only screamed. They haven’t talked more than one sentence, and that was previous to the interrogation/torture.

- Fine what is your name? – Said Aaron.

- Roman sir, its Roman -

- Ok Roman, tell me what you know. – Aaron was glad Roman was cooperating, he didn’t wanted to spend the rest of the day pulling out their eyeballs and stuff. He had very little patience for this kind of things.

So probably, he would rip one guy’s heart out, and let the others bleed to death. After all he could always ask the unconscious guy on the floor.

- Start talking. – Said Aaron.

- We were hired as mercenaries in the village close by… – _The man twitched from the pain before continuing_ - Yesterday we overheard the guy on the floor talking about some cave with some mystery runes inside and…

Aaron asked them, more questions, and the three mercenaries answered them. After a while, he sat down, and started meditating about all they have told him.

Something wasn’t right in his story. After all, who in his right mind would believe the ravings of a drunk man? But what mattered the most was the identity of the man that was giving the orders. The one that hired them.

It appears that the unconscious man, was the one that released him. To have knowledge about the cave and to be able to release him, there could only be two possibilities. He would have to ask him after waking him up.

The important thing was, that from what they told him, the guy didn’t release him the first time he came here. Instead the whole situation was a plot, in which the three mercenaries forced him to come and read the runes. That meant that whoever was behind this knew where this place was, and knew what was inside of it. If they knew that, then they probably knew why, he was sealed. Why someone with that information would want to free him?

- Mm… I see, so just one more thing before I’m done with you guys. What’s the name of the one who hired you? And I’m talking about the one that hired you to follow this man, and bring him here. –

- I… I don’t know what you’re talking about! – Screamed Roman.

- Don’t try to fool me. Just tell his name, before I start removing your entrails. – Aaron looked at Roman while releasing his aura.

The three mercenaries felt a pressure on their whole being. They felt terror, and an unimaginable fear. A fear that was penetrating to their very souls.

- Ugh… I’m sorry… Don’t hurt us please, his name is S… ugh! AAAAHHHH!!! – After speaking the very first letter of what could only be the name of the employer, the three mercenaries started convulsing, and after no more than a second they were dead.

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- Shit! I should have known! ¬– _Aaron punched the floor hard while regretting his own stupidity. A crater was formed in the place he punched. – Of course he would have put a curse on them! –

He didn’t sense anything weird on those guys. But of course what Aaron didn’t take in consideration was that after a thousand years, the magic spells that were used, would evolve.

And even as the curse was place on them, and they were right in front of him. As he had no knowledge of the type of curse, he didn’t know where to look and therefore couldn’t sense it. For what happened to them, it seemed that the curse was a high ranking magic.

Aaron knelt close to them and started chanting some incantations, but at the end he couldn’t recognize the magic that was cast over them. Which only left him angry. The one thing that he didn’t expected, was that after being out, he would encounter strange magic.

Now there was only one thing to do.

Going to the place where the guy was lying on the floor he checked his chest. He discovered a burnt mark with the form of a crescent moon. Which was proof that he had freed him.

But to free him, you needed to meet certain requirements. Only one of those who sealed him in that dimension, could free him. Only them or their descendants, the ones that carried their blood.

Otherwise it didn’t matter if you knew the ancient language, the magic would not react unless you had the same blood as them.

Aaron knew they could be alive even if a long time passed. After all, you could use magic to stop aging. They could still die in battle. But it did not matter much, because no matter how many years have passed, at least one of them would still be alive.

Things were getting complicated by the minute. It was time to wake Alex up, that was the name the mercenaries gave him, and hear his version of the story. Aaron stood near him and with a very particular spell, he magically slapped the guy from the distance.

- Hey wake up! -

After a few seconds the guy started to open his eyes, and looked at Aaron like he was some kind of ghost or demon.

- Whoa! Who are you? What happened? And where are those hateful… HOLY SEVEN, THE'RE DEAD!!!- When Alex looked at the almost dismembered corpses lying on the ground, he started to freak out.

- Calm down I’m not here to hurt you. Ok so look, I did not kill them… well maybe I had something to do with their broken legs… but let’s not get sidetracked here. The point is I won’t kill you unless you attack me or something, so relax. – Said Aaron while trying to look the least threatening he could.

Aaron stopped, as the more he talked, the more scared was the other guy. At the end he realized he was only confusing him. He was trying to think how to be friendly in this situation. Then he saw the other guy had already started to run away.

Using his speed to get pass him, and stop him after a few meters. With the most soothing voice he could manage, he told him:

- Hey I’m not here to hurt you. By the way, I'm Aaron. Your name is Alex right? –

- Ho… how did you my name? – Answered Alex.

- Well the dead guys over told me and… - He couldn’t finish his sentence, because Alex started running again.

Aaron just wanted to ask him some questions, and know exactly who he was, plus his real connection with his awakening. But as it seemed things wouldn’t be that easy, it was time to make them easy.

- Catte! - Said Aaron.

Suddenly from the ground erupted chains, gripping Alex’s legs and making him trip, before they wrapped themselves around him and left him immobile. Aaron then again, with the most soothing voice he could get, told him:

- Like I said my name is Aaron. And as long as you behave I won’t hurt you, understood? -

- Ok… I understand. - Said Alex.

- Ok Alex I want you to calm down, and tell me how you ended up in this cave. – Aaron wanted information.

- Look I’m only an explorer, ok? After going everywhere trying to become famous, I ended up almost broke. With the last of my money I came to this province, following an old tale of a hidden place in this mountain. After three months I discovered this cave. To celebrate I got drunk and I bragged it at the bar. Today I woke up and Roman and his lackeys, the guys that are dead over there, they were telling me that I owed them some money form yesterday. To compensate them I had to bring them here. But they were weird. And when they saw the runes, they forced me to read them… -

- Whoa stop! Take it easy and get to point. Ok? – “It looks like if you let him, this guy could talk to you until you grow a beard” thought Aaron.

- You wanted to know how I ended up here, am I right? – Alex’s mind was in turmoil. After what happened, he wanted to tell the right story, no matter how long it would take him.

- Yeah, but I don’t need to know what you ate last night. Just the important things – Said Aaron.

- Then let me finish, so where was I… -

- AGH! YOU KNOW WHAT, JUST SHUT UP AND FOLLOW ME. WE’LL TALK AFTER GETTING OUT OF THIS PLACE! – Shouted Aaron, then with his mid cancelled the chains.

- Ok, but no need to yell at me. – Answered Alex.

“For the mother of... This guy could make a holy man, curse him to death.” Aaron was now considering killing him, but sadly he couldn’t.

- By the way why were you in that crystal? Are there any treasures here? Do you have it in your clothes? Is that why you were trapped? Is it something expensive? You know I told you I’m almost broke and bla bla bla... - Alex started talking again, but Aaron just ignored him.

Advancing trough the cave, Aaron was dispersing the magic wards around the ceiling and the walls. Checking them he realized that, they were supposed to bring down the whole mountain against the intruders.

It was lucky he spotted them so soon. After all, the wards would only be active in case of his awakening.

He slowed down and started thinking, about this situation again. Connecting the information Roman and Alex had given him.

- Hey what is your last name? – Aaron had only one more thing to know.

- My last name? That’s… eh Wright, I’m Alex Wright. -

Aaron doubted that, that last name didn’t matched with any of the seven. And only a direct descending could free him. And unless the ancient language was common nowadays, which he doubt it, Alex’s was personally taught the language by someone.

- Mm… Ok what I need from you now is to tell me everything you know about this land. – Said Aaron.

- What? – Answered Alex.

Aaron was ratter surprised that the only thing that Alex had found strange of their conversation was that question.

- Well you see, I was trapped in another dimension probably for a long time. Now that you have freed me, I need to know what has happened in the world, in the amount of time that I have been gone. -

- Another dimension? It makes sense… and how long was that? – Said Alex.

- I don’t know a few hundred years at least, tell me what year are we? – Aaron answered.

- Few hundred years at least? Seriously? Well here at the Moonlight Empire, we count the year’s right after the foundation of the Empire… -

- The Moonlight Empire? – It was Aaron’s turn to be speechless. -

- Yeah it’s called like that because all the royalty has a tattoo of a crescent moon on their chest. They said the First Emperor had a birth mark of a crescent moon, and when his son ascended to the throne he tattooed a moon on his chest. Since then it had become a tradition. -

Aaron kept quiet, the things that Alex was telling him were a lot to take in. He needed a drink, oh a drink yeah he would have given his right arm for a beer in that dimension.

But now at least he knew something, he knew what had happened right after they betrayed him. Now there were some other things that Alex needed to know.

- Ok, first look at your chest, second let’s go somewhere else there’s a lot to talk about and I could use a beer. I could kill for one… not that I would of course – Aaron added quickly after seeing the look on Alex face.

Indeed Alex was scared because he was powerless against Roman, and it looked like Aaron had wiped the ground with him, literally.

But the look on his face changed so fast, when he looked the burnt mark in the form of a crescent moon he now had on his chest.

- Holy! I have a Crescent Moon on my chest, WHAT THE FUK IS GOING HERE? -

- You only ask that now? Like I said there’s much we need to discuss. So tell me what year are we? - Aaron said, thinking that at least two hundred years had passed.

Nothing could have prepared Aaron for what came next.

- We are at the year nine hundred ninety-nine – Said Alex.

Aaron had been trapped for almost a thousand years.