Chapter 1: Inheritance

--Prologue--

While busy working on the plans of the new high rise project that his New York City based firm has been commissioned on, Eizo Walker has decided to finally quit his hectic work as an architect and just design and build furniture on his own time. He’d inherited his grandfather’s house upstate and that’s where it was ideal for him to set up a workshop. Of course, this did not just occur to him all of the sudden. He has been debating with himself about this idea for the past year.

Eizo had just turned 26 years old last month. He’s single, no children, and he doesn’t spend a lot of money. He’d figured that his savings is enough for him to get by until he start earning a little money selling furniture he’d made. Not that he did not like architecture any more. That will always be a passion of his. But he had other interests as well that he’d like to pursue and he’d like to live a more tranquil and quieter life away from the city.

Family wise, Eizo had no one. Both his parents had passed away 3 years ago due to a traffic accident. He had no living relatives in his father’s side and all his relatives in his mother’s side was living in Japan.

He talked to his boss about his plans and agreed to stay for a whole month to settle his work and help with the transition. The company and his boss personally had been good to him. Of course, part of the reason for that was because Eizo had always performed well in his work. He said his goodbyes to his co-workers and friends and let them know as well about his intentions. He had made some valuable contacts that can help him sell his furniture in the future and he’d like to keep them.

Eizo spent about a week organizing his stuff, separating things he was going to keep and things he was going to leave. The moving itself was easy enough. He’d rented a truck and hired a couple of guys and moving all his things took just one trip. After using the remaining time of the day organizing his things in his new home, Eizo was reasonably tired. He ate a small diner and went to bed.

--End of Prologue--

The next day, Eizo woke up excited to begin his new life. After breakfast, he decided first to walk around and have a good look at the property that had been abandoned for the last 14 years since his grandfather disappeared. No one knew why and how he disappeared but Eizo remembered that he had a good relationship with him and was saddened for a long time after his leaving. The lot was quite big. The perimeter was surrounded by trees and his nearest neighbor was quite a distance away. From the front door of the house, it’s about 50 meters to the road with the land gently sloping down. The backyard was about 25 meters deep.

(Hmmm, I think it’ll be nice to have a vegetable garden here someday.)

The house itself was moderate in size except for the attached garage that can fit around three cars. This garage was perfect for Eizo to set up his workshop for him to make furniture with ample space to spare. Cleaning this space was his task for the day.

(Oh god! -cough- -cough- I guess this is what 14 years of neglect can get you.)

The garage was dusty all around. Cobwebs was hanging everywhere and the floor was covered in random junk that you could not see the floor.

(Grandpa must have collected this things over the years. There’s even a jukebox in here and a bunch of old records. I didn’t know he liked music that much. But then again, who doesn’t like music?)

Half a day had passed when he’d finally reach the back wall of the garage where a lot of wood panels, cabinets, and other wood works were leaning. He carried them all out after some difficulty and that was when he saw a double barn door around 2.5 meters in total width. The handle bars had been linked close with a chain and a padlock.

(I wonder what’s inside? Where does this even lead to?)

Eizo knew the general layout of the house and he didn’t realize that there could be hidden room in there. The day went by and he was finally finished in cleaning. He had taken out all the useless garbage and kept only what he can use for the house of the workshop.

The next day, he called for a taxi and went to the nearest car dealership which he’d look up in his phone and was about an 45 minutes away. He wanted to buy a small truck which he needed today and would definitely be useful in the future for his workshop.

Not one to take a long time in deciding, Eizo picked a silver 4 cylinder 4WD Toyota Tacoma. Even though he didn’t know much about trucks or cars in general, he had a good feeling about this purchase. He thought that it’s a practical vehicle that can be versatile in its uses and that suited him just fine. He paid for the truck in full and quickly took care of the required paperwork.

With a truck fresh from the dealers, he drove right away to the nearest hardware store. It was a warehouse type building and you could buy just about everything you needed in there. From gardening to electrical work supplies, they had it all (Home Depot type store). His reason for going in this store was to buy some tools he needed for his workshop. He had been making furniture for years now so he had the basic tools already, but since he had the space, he wanted to buy some power tools he’d been missing.

The first one was a band saw. He had only portable saws all those years and he had to go to a friend’s workshop when he absolutely had to use one, but now, he can finally have his own band saw. He purchased a 2.5 amp 9 in. Milwaukee band saw and an assortment of saw blades of varied teeth sizes. The second item he wanted was a router table, so he went ahead and got one 24 in. x 18 in. Craftsman Router Table. This will definitely be useful in making joints and giving his work some more class.

While walking through the store grinning menacingly thinking about his selections, he passed by the area where they had some bolt cutters on display. He was immediately reminded of that locked door in the garage that he saw yesterday, so, he snatched one of the 18 in. bolt cutter. With the help of a store employee, he loaded everything he just bought on the truck and drove straight home.

Eizo was able to pay for these purchases in cash using some of the money he’d received from his parent’s life insurance. This is the first instance where he’d even touched that money.

(Well, these are all investments for my future. hehe. Not that I plan on making a lot of money later.)

When he got home, it was only half past noon. It was an efficient morning. He parked the truck inside the garage and unloaded the power tools one at a time. He grabbed the bolt cutter and stood in front of the locked barn door.

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(Now finally, we can see what’s inside. It’s been eating me since yesterday.)

With surprisingly little effort, he cut the steel chain and open the door, sliding both panels all the way on either side. What he saw was a small room that was about 10 square meters big and it was completely empty.

(What’s the point in locking this room when there’s nothing in it?)

With a disappointed scowl, he casually stepped in the room and his environment was suddenly different. Shocked, he jumped out the room instinctively. He looked back and saw the room was just as before, empty.

(Was I seeing things just right now. My mind must have been tired.)

Using one leg, he stepped in again, and the room had changed again. Not only it looked different, it was also much bigger. He withdraw his leg, and the room changed again to its former state, boring and empty. He repeated this action of stepping in and out of the room if only to convince himself that this is actually happening.

When not in the room, in was an empty, barely 10 square meters small room. When inside, it looked like a dimly lit corridor about 4 meters wide and 30 meters long. On either side, ran lit torches in regular interval. The floors dark colored stone, and the walls were made of grey bricks continuing into a vaulted ceiling around 4 meters from the floor.

Even when his rational brain could not believe what he was seeing, he could not deny the simple fact that it really was a different room and that he was in it.

His curiosity won over him and he started to walk towards the end of the hall. He saw that there was a big door at the end almost as big as the end wall itself. His eyes widened when he noticed what was lying on the side of the door.

(Oh sh*t!!! A body?)

He approached the body on a sprint and when he was close enough to make a proper observation, he saw that it was already a skeleton. It’s flesh was completely decomposed. The skeleton was leaning on the wall. It was covered in what looked like something used to be a collared shirt and brown colored pants. Its right hand was holding a glass orb that seemed to be emitting a very faint light, black and purple On the left hand was something Eizo recognized. It was the golden wrist watch that his grandpa wore all the time that slid down off the wrist of the skeletal arm.

(Granpa!? Is this you!? ...so, this is where you’ve been. Were you unable to get out? No, that shouldn’t be. I was able to go out earlier. What happened, grandpa?)

The glass orb flickered a little bit and it caught Eizo’s attention. He reached towards the orb and when his fingers made contact to the glass, his vision went dark. But, he could see something. In his mind, he saw his grandfather just like how he remembered him. They were both sitting in front of one another just like how they used to do when Eizo was still a child and his grandfather would tell him wild stories about magic, dragons,and heroes.

His grandfather was looking at him with a gentle smile on his face.

“Is that you, Eizo? ...I’m glad that it’s you. You’ve grown up well.”

“Grandpa, what is happening? What is this room?”

“How have you been, Eizo? How’s your dad?”

“Oh right, you probably want to know. ...dad and mom, they died more than three years ago. It was a traffic accident. Many other people died. The doctors said they died before reaching the hospital. ...I’m sorry, Grandpa.”

Eizo was looking down as he related the story. Tears were forming in his eyes. He thought he had recovered from the sadness of losing his parents, but telling his grandfather, even in this unexplainable situation that he couldn’t even be sure if it’s real, made everything resurfaced again.

His grandfather was silent for a moment.

“I see. ...I wished I was there with you. Yet, you suffered alone. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Grandpa. It’s no one’s fault. I’m just happy to see you again. So, can you tell me what’s happening here?

“This is a place between two worlds. It connects them. But, you’ll learn all of that later on. For now, tell me about yourself. You were only 14 when I left. A lot must have happened, right?”

Eizo realized that his grandfather said that because this is only temporary and they were short on time, so he held back his curiosity and told his grandfather his stories. Some of the things he told him made them both laughed. Several times his grandfather would say “Really!?” in disbelief and then they’d laughed again. It was like a scene from their past, except now, he’s the one telling the stories. Several hours have passed and his grandfather and seemed content.

“Eizo, I think it’s time. The orb you touched earlier has finished transferring the knowledge and power that I stored in it to you. Consider them your inheritance. Use them as you see fit.”

“Grandpa.”

“Don’t make that face. Say your goodbye properly. I know you understand.”

“Goodbye, Grandpa.”

“Goodbye, Eizo. Take care.”

Eizo opened his eyes and he was in front of the skeleton again. The orb gave it’s last light and shattered into tiny crystal before crumbling into sand. After the orb was gone, the door in front of them opened, sinking into the walls themselves. Beyond, all he can see was white. He knew that this would lead him to another world. A world that he’d recognized from the tales of his grandfather. A world where there is magic, dragons, elves, and more.

Eizo at that moment knew what he had to do. He took the fabric of the decaying shirt and laid it on the floor. One by one he picked up the remains of his grandfather and placed them of the fabric; the last being the skull. He wrapped it in a bundle that he can carry with him. He stood up and took his first step towards the door way.

(I will take you there, Grandpa: To that world you wanted to return to. Leave it to me. I will take you there.)

Without blinking an eye, his steps steady, Eizo went into the other world.

--End of Chapter 1--

Author’s notes:

This is the first story that I’m writing. Feel free to leave some tips on how I can proceed. I don’t know how many chapters this story is going to take, but I’ll try to keep the story flow naturally. When I read it over, I realized that most of the parts don’t really have anything to do with magic or fantasy, I think the rest of the story is going to be like that. I think I will be writing more about technical things like carpentry tools and the like. That’s one theme I’m trying to incorporate.