The Star Eater
an excerpt

CHAPTER FIVE:
THE COMET APPROACHES

As Aaron walked out of the train, he was greeted by the strangest creepiest person he had ever met. He looked human from behind, and everywhere else except for his eyes. He wore a long gray cloak and gloves. He was of moderate height and build, but his eyes were made entirely out of glass. The glass was a monochrome gray, with no iris or pupil, but it flowed and danced with glowing white symbols. Aaron couldn’t tell if he was looking at him or not, but he just stared.

“Hello,” stated the man. “You are Aaron Robinson. We’ve been expecting you. My name is Makula, you may call me Mak.”

Charles stepped out of the train right behind Emily, still in his Fennerite form. “Mak” he exclaimed. Charles darted toward him and they embraced. “Mak was my contact in ‘retrieving’ the watch,” he explained. “So have you been watching us?”

“Of course,” replied Mak not looking at Charles. “But not only me. Once word spread, the entire Visasian population has been watching your adventure.”

“Well it’s not my adventure,” replied Charles, trying to be humble, but failing.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” replied Mak. “I was talking to the children.” It was hard to tell who he was talking to, since he had not pupils or turned his head at all.

“Excuse me,” asked Aaron. “Are you blind?”

“Oh far from it,” replied Mak. “I know you don’t know, but the Visasians are the seers of the Existence. We have the ability to see anything anywhere, but only if it’s in the present, or we know where it is, or what it looks like.”

“Amazing!” whispered Aaron. “Will this happen to me?” he asked Charles.

“I’m betting so,” replied Mak. Aaron looked at him. “Don’t worry, I’ve been watching from the start. I know everything that has happened to you.

“Oh,” replied Aaron. “I didn’t realize.”

“Come!” commanded Mak. “We are wasting time.” He spun around, his cloak whipping at the same time, and walked briskly off the gray platform.

Aaron gazed around the world. They were in a large city. The buildings grew taller the closer to the city’s center they were. The tallest building seemed to be right in the center and was capped with a large glass dome. Just like Mak’s eyes, the dome flowed with glowing symbols.

All around Aaron there were many Visasians staring at the sky as if in a trans. He assumed they were using their ability. Mak lead them away from the train station entirely and took them to a small vehicle and then from their towards the center of the city.

“So have you told Fennerite Hall yet?” asked Charles anxiously.

“We have told no one who doesn’t know,” consoled Mak.

“But Fennerite Hall doesn’t know?” asked Emily.

“Don’t worry,” confirmed Mak, “They do not.”

Charles, Emily, and Elizabeth all let a sigh of relief. Aaron thought that Fennerite Hall must be more dangerous than he originally thought.
They five of them quickly came to the center building. Mak shewed them out, and they followed him of the gray stone steps past the columns and into the building. Mak took a left from the lobby up a flight of stairs and to the chamber capped with the dome.

Standing guard were two Visasians with swords slung across their backs. They didn’t move, but instead let the five of them enter. Mak pushed the doors back to reveal a cavernous glass room where images and pictures flowed across the walls and ceiling. In the center of the room was a young girl no older than Aaron. She sat cross legged and stared at the ceiling.

Unlike the other Visasians, whose eyes were gray with white symbols, her eyes were pure white, not a single piece was gray. “Welcome, Aaron,” she spoke ominously. Her voice was young, but it had a matured air about it. “Please come forward all of you, but Makula, stay behind in the antechamber. I will call for you when the time comes.”

They did has commanded and apprehensively, even Charles, approached. The doors swung closed leaving them and the girl inside. The girl didn’t lower her gaze, but she said, “Do you know who I am, Aaron?”

“No,” he replied fearfully.

“There is no reason to fear,” she replied, sincerely. “Out of the millions of Visasians I’m am the only one powerful enough to handle this room. All others must look down when the enter, other wise they will be blinded permanently by it’s brilliance.

“This is the observatory it allows me to see not only anything, anywhere, but everything everywhere, even it I haven’t seen it before. I do look my age. I was brought here only two years ago, when I was Emily’s age, but the experiences I see have made me grow up far too fast. Some times I believe this to be a curse.

“I am the Chief Seer, and no of all of the happenings of the Existence. All of the sky’s secrets are shown unto me, even the where abouts of the Star Eater.”

Aaron and Emily’s eyes widened. If Elizabeth had eyes, she would have widened them too, but she doesn’t. Charles already knew about her. This had not been their first encounter.

“Charles and I have met before,” stated the girl. “I was the one who sent him to retrieve the watch, and I sent my older brother with him. I have watched you from the time you were born, Aaron. I now your potential, and there is much to discuss.

“There are seven powerful people who exist. I will tell you of six. There is only one other that I can’t, but you will know who soon. Charles, Emily, Elizabeth, will you please leave.” She said all of this with out looking down. As a matter of fact, the only thing that moved the entire time was her mouth.

The other three did so, and the Chief Seer said, “Come sit next to me Aaron.” Aaron did so slowly and apprehensively.

Sitting down next to her carefully he asked, “What is your name?”

“I like you Aaron,” she replied, sounding more like Emily. “No Visasian would say that. They couldn’t care less about my name as long as my vision is holding up. Even now, Fennerite Hall is assembling Visasian candidates to take my place. Two years is long enough, and three is far to long, threatening on total blindness. Or if you’re lucky, death.”

“But why would you want to die,” asked Aaron.

“To a Visasian,” she explained, “Sight is all that matters. Without it, we can do nothing. We can’t even hear, or feel, or smell, or taste. The only sense we have is sight. We read lips, we see when we are touching something, and we see the scents that litter the air, but we can’t experience these first hand.”
“That must be awful,” consoled Aaron.

“It is, but imagine not be able to have any senses when you’ve lost your only one.”

Aaron looked down.

“Do not be sad. My name is Iris.” She smiled.

Aaron looked at her, and surprisingly. She was looking directly at him, and what’s more, she had irises and pupils. She had deep evergreen eyes that were larger than normal. As soon as Aaron absorbed what her eyes looked like, they were fogged over and began glowing white once more.

“Now,” she began, “There is so much to tell you. By the way. Do not speak my name to anyone, not even Charles, Emily, or Elizabeth.”

Aaron agreed and she began:

“There are seven very influential people that exist. The first is me. As the chief seer, I over see everything that occurs in the worlds and notify who needs to be of certain situations. The second is the Time Keeper. You already know that she’s responsible for the pace of the worlds. The third, and second most unstable is the current Fennerite King.

“He is in charge of the people of the worlds and enforcing the law. After I see fit to notify him, he then has total power and immunity for what he may or may not do.

“The fourth is the Athazagorian Chief Librarian. She oversees the history of the worlds and has the right to tell us what we’re doing wrong. She is the one most connected to the history of the worlds and knows of all that has happed before. She is also one of my best friends. Together, we predict what is to come.

“The fifth isn’t as influential as the other, but he is worth noting. He is the Ticket Master. Without him, only perceivers could travel and communicate between worlds. He worlds with the Time Keeper to ensure that all worlds are synchronized and so on.

“The sixth is the Star Eater. He is only influential because of his watch. Which we will also talk about today. We will discuss quite a bit about him, but not right now.

“And the seventh is a person I can’t tell you about, because I have only watched him for the past two years, and I only know what the previous Seers have recorded through the Librarian. He is a person that you must learn about, because he is you.”

“What?!” exclaimed Aaron.

“You may not be powerful yet, but you will be the most powerful out of all of us. I was hoping you already understood this. Now, we must discuss the Time Keeper and her watches.

“What Charles told you is only have the truth. What he said was what he knew, and he was right, but there’s more than you could imagine, yet.
“What you don’t know, is what the watch can do. As you have observed it grows, and gives fortune cookie type advice, but it won’t stop growing until you stop. The advice will end soon as you learn more. It will also influence the way you grow as well. It will make you stronger, taller, and bigger than you would have been without it.

“It can do many other things that no one knows yet, because it is as variable as you are. I do know that it was designed for a perceiver so it will assist your main ability in some way or another. There are so many things it will do that they are innumerable.”

Aaron just stared at her, but then was compelled to look at the ceiling. If he could see himself, he would have noticed his eyes fogging and white glowing symbols floating across them. As he learned the Gift of the Visasians, he could feel his wrist and hand tingle and see it grow into a glove with the watch face move up to the back of the hand and increase to a three inch diameter and a third buckle formed around the wrist of the glove while the pattern swirled around his hand and wrist.

Aaron embraced it. He was changed. It no longer bothered him. He continued to star at the ceiling which faded away to reveal the night sky.
Aaron wasn’t aware by how much time had passed, but he definitely saw stars, and one was streaking across the sky, a birth blue tail following it.
“Do you see the comet?” asked Iris. Aaron nodded, knowing she could see him. “That is the star eater. He’s on the move. No has seen him for two centuries except for me and my predecessors. We’ve been awaiting his return. For years he’s been hiding in the light of the Polaris, the northern star. The only star that eludes him. Two centuries ago, he was almost destroyed by his mother, one of my predecessors, the King of the Fennerites, and the Chief Librarian. He fled into the sky at the last minute and without a perceiver, we were sunk.

“Now he is returning, and that can only mean he’s more powerful, more angry, and more vengeful than before. Because I also see the thoughts of all, I know that he knows of you. He has consumed enough dead Visasians to have our gift, but I do not know his intentions yet. Because it takes a long time to traverse the sky from where he’s coming from, he’s been on the approach for over a year and a half, but he will be hear with in a few months. I don’t know where he is headed but it can’t be good.

“That is why I sent Charles and Makula for the watch. We were running out of time and I knew that you were destined to wear it. You, Aaron, my friend, must practice all of your gifts, learn new ones, and master them all, or do as much as you can for the day the Star Eater is upon us.”

“I can’t—,” began Aaron.

“Do not think like that!” snapped Iris. “You may not know it now, but think about how much you have changed in a day. The watch knows his brother is coming, and is working hard on your doubtful soul. I know that withing a few weeks there will not be a single doubt in your mind about what you can and cannot do.

“Now, I require you here for a few more days so I can instruct you on what I know about abilities, learning, and the watch, but once I am done, you must leave and endeavor to find the Time Keeper. As a perceiver you can do this, but you will definitely not get there the first few times. Once you are in a world. Stay there long enough to learn and master it’s abilities before trying again.
“Or conversation here is totally confidential. You must not tell anyone, even your most trusted, and don’t worry, I’ll know. I will tell the others somethings I have told you, like about the Star Eater’s approach, but what I have said about myself, you must not tell anyone. Understand?”

“Yes, Iris,” he replied. Aaron looked down at her, his eyes returning to normal.
She looked at him, her eyes normal. “Thank you, my friend,” she replied softly, while smiling. She returned her gaze to the ceiling as Aaron stood and walked out of the Observatory. “Till I see you again,” she shouted to him.