The Distortion

Laith went to visit the blacksmith of the village to recover his scimitar. Earlier in the day, when he and his brother were taking a stroll in the village, he had his sword looked after, repairing, sharpening, reinforcing and the like—and why not some embellishing. The scimitar was definitely functional, but the upcoming journey might require a little more than just “functional”.

Luckily his weapon was prepared in time, and in a much better shape than he expected. The pommel and the guard were now coated with a golden layer making it look more like a ceremonial blade than a battle one. The grip was now wrapped in clean scarlet leather replacing the previous worn-out piece of leather—Laith’s sweaty hands ate at the poor thing.

Unsheathing his scimitar from its new scabbard—the same scarlet as the hilt—a gleam shone brighter than silver. Laith admired the wide and deeply curved steel, growing even wider at the upper third. Such curve made it a deadly slashing blade by increasing its cutting area, as opposed to a straight sword. This had allowed Laith to hack through multiple opponents with relative ease.

He swung it a couple of times with incredible speed and swiftness, which was impressive considering the sheer size and weight of the blade. What was truly remarkable, however, was the fact that it was a one-handed scimitar, and Laith had no difficulty hauling such a massive weapon.

He had much better affinity for his right arm, so a one-handed blade always felt more natural. As for why Laith chose a large-sized blade, it was his way of compensating for the lack of prior experience in wielding weapons and the absence of a teacher to show him the ways of the sword. The only thing he could rely on was the set of instincts bestowed upon him by his Incarnation.

As such, he saw it fit to hone those basic instincts to the extreme that would allow him to compete with other, more experienced and seasoned warriors. In the end, his motto was: bigger was better and stronger, simple as that.

Now granted, Laith first had to find someone very patient who would cater to his particular and unusual demands. And he found that person in uncle Nadim, a humble blacksmith in Barka with not as much work on his hands.

In fact, Nadim didn’t even specialize in sword smithing, and yet he poured his heart and soul into forging Laith’s scimitar. Somehow, that specific craft was the very thing keeping the spark alive within Nadim, motivating him to keep going after a long and weary career. The passion could easily be felt through Laith’s scimitar, which is why the latter would voluntarily pay double the price.

Overly generous, some would say, but Laith thought it only fair to pay as much for someone going out of his way to satisfy his needs. Of course, he would also shower uncle Nadim with endless words of gratitude before leaving, even more so this time since there was no telling when was the next time they’d meet.

* * *

His brother was doing his “homework”; at least that’s what it seemed like to Laith. Adam had his head shoved in all sorts of documents colonizing the entirety of the room. There were a bunch of maps on which a bunch of notes were inscribed and various trajectories were drawn. Apparently, Adam was drawing up all the hypothetical scenarios and outcomes awaiting them in their voyage, with mathematical formulae no less. Laith couldn’t believe his brother’s diligence, attempting to predict the future with statistics and probability.

Laith didn’t care much about it. However, he did care about his room becoming littered with papers and near inhabitable. Usually, it was mostly empty. A bland square-shaped room with nothing but a closet, a bed and a desk to fill the space. And the desk, as a piece of furniture, usually served no purpose; this was the first time it was put to good use.

“Man, I know you’re some sort of researcher, but that doesn’t give you the right to invade my room like this.” Laith complained.

“Funny you should say that, since you didn’t have an issue invading my stuff.” Adam scowled.

“Even the Distortion can’t change how overprotective you are of your ‘stuff’. I’m your brother, it’s not considered stealing if I grab one of your things without your consent.” Laith answered idly.

“I’m not worried about you stealing anything, I’m worried about you losing it or screwing with it.” Adam said, looking away from his brother. “I’m sure you’ve seen what’s inside so you know how valuable it is.”

“What’s with all that jewelry anyway?” Laith asked, scratching his head.

“Obviously money. I’m not gonna rely on whatever your salary is—if you even get paid one—to fund this long journey.”

“You didn’t have to go there…” Laith was stung by the harsh truth. “But why not just bring regular money with you?”

“Regular money differs from one country to another you idiot. I’d rather have something of universal value.”

That was essentially the idea. Adam needed a way to get around each country using a different currency—stealing was off limits. The simple answer was to buy various riches with the fortune he amassed from working in Neumund—it was a sizable fortune, despite losing half of it. As such, he would find no issue funding their journey.

“Don’t get me wrong, the shiny gold and silver are nice, but couldn’t you have brought something more…futuristic? Some technological goggles or communication devices, something that could be more useful.”

“Glad to see your brain still works. I was starting to wonder whether you traded your neurons for muscle.” Adam said, not looking at his brother. “I wanted to bring something along, but then I would risk being detected. Even the smallest of devices could be traced across all of Mihad.”

“Uh, wouldn’t they recognize your look anyway? I imagine they would have one of their own infiltrate every country.”

“You really thought I strolled around the Neumund in my current state? I’ve grown my hair and beard out considerably to help hide my face. The white coat has long since grown out of fashion in favor of a different uniform. I’m only wearing it as part of the disguise.”

“What about the harry-potter glasses?”

“Same. Eye disorders have been successfully treated so no one needed them anymore.”

“Ha, are you trying to imitate Clark Kent?”

“It worked for him, didn’t it?”

“In a fictional world, yeah.”

“You’d be surprised how effective they could be in concealing one’s identity. Besides, the main thing I should worry about was taken care of: the DNA scanner.”

Laith cocked his head.

“A technology capable of sequencing a person’s DNA through a simple scan—in a matter of instants—was developed. And since each individual’s DNA—Neumund citizen I mean—is stored in a database, all they have to do is run a quick match to identify me.” Adam explained.

“And so, you made sure you erase that before you left.”

“Bingo.” Adam paused. “I’ll admit it’s a little frustrating that we have limited tools at our disposal whereas our enemy is equipped with some fine technology.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve spent the last decade going about things old-school, we’ll make it work. Besides, having no technology doesn’t always mean we’re at a disadvantage, I just kicked those droids’ butt with an old-school weapon.”

He definitely has a point…, Adam thought.

It was rather odd that the Neumund hadn’t already taken over the world by now with the various tools at its disposal, especially when compared to the rest of the world. He always presumed that a handful of droids would take an army by storm…apparently not.

Through today’s incident, Laith had challenged that perception. Could it be that a more basic and traditional approach was somehow more effective than an advanced one? He wouldn’t put it beyond the Distortion to cause such a contradiction.

Adam let out a hint of a smile. He felt like he was introduced to a whole new world, and he was in for a lot of surprises, and that excited him. Also, something was quite amusing about witnessing a boy who grew up in the twenty first century proudly reverting back to a much older lifestyle. Never did he envision such a future for his younger brother.

“By the way, why are you keeping that in your room? Is that a relic of some kind, or a reward you received after a battle?” Adam couldn’t help but notice the presence of a broken sword, somewhat tended to, standing in one corner of the room.

“It is a gift, just not for me but for Râad.” Laith replied.

Adam frowned. “How is a broken sword a gift to a tiger?” he sounded very confused.

“It was from someone Râad saved during battle. A veteran soldier—who lives in Barka by the way—decided to give it to Râad after he retired. He had no idea how to reward a tiger, so he just handed him the item that best symbolized his career, marking his retirement as well.”

“Bah, I guess it’s a nice gesture.” Adam said, stretching his back. “It’s getting late. I believe it’s time to sleep. It’s gonna be a loooooong day tomorrow, and then a few more after it I suspect.” Adam said as he stood up.

“Not before I do my quick workout routine.”

Adam stared curiously.

Laith proceeded to grab the chair Adam was sitting on, using it as equipment for his exercise. And what an exercise it turned out to be. Laith held the ear of the wooden chair with his right grip, slowly raising his feet from the ground.

If my glasses aren’t playing tricks on me, I believe he’s doing one-arm handstand push-ups on the tip of the chair…

It was hard to fathom how incredibly strong his brother was. Adam was far from being knowledgeable when it came to warrior-type Incarnations. Out of the many fields he was able to study, warfare and martial arts remained quite lacking—such a shame considering his tendencies before the Distortion.

As for the battle-related Incarnations themselves, they were treated differently where he used to live. As such, it had been a while since Adam saw pure warrior showcase raw unadulterated strength. He might be forgetful—five years was a long time—but Adam had no recollection of them being as powerful, not to this extent. How high was their ceiling?

Yet another mystery to uncover.

* * *

The wooden door opened with a creaking sound.

“Where on Mihad have you been, disappearing without a warning on the day we’re supposed to depart?” Adam snapped.

“Relax, I was just taking care of some final business.” Laith replied nonchalantly.

“Final business? What kind of busin… oh no, don’t tell me…” Adam turned to his father, “Baba, I hope your friend won’t mind a third guest on his boat, and not the kind he’s expecting.”

His father was slightly puzzled, but he reassured him that they could always negotiate a good price to sort things out. Laith grabbed his sword and a boulder-like backpack that miraculously still hadn’t imploded. Mama always found a way to manage whatever space she was offered—Laith admired that skill.

An awkward moment of silence took place, as if no one wanted to take the next step. Understandable, considering what a giant step it was. It would have certainly been nice to just remain in a peaceful life, not burdened with the knowledge about a doomed world, let alone burdened with the responsibility save it.

Alas, someone had to take that next step.

“Well, I guess this is farewell, Mrs. Kacem.” it was Laith who spoke.

While everyone else could never fully shake their hesitation, he hadn’t any, which was somewhat uncharacteristic of him. Tradition dictated that he be restless and his stomach grumble…not this time. Laith looked at the path ahead as a defining and self-fulfilling journey and for that, he was thrilled. As opposed to the others, he was ready, plain and simple.

Surprisingly, Fairouz kept her emotions in check. Despite how hard it was for her to see her children leave, it was important for her, at that moment, to stay strong and not show any sign of weakness—she would save the tears for later. Her children had to move forward without having any second thoughts or lingering regrets.

They both kissed her on the forehead before they finally left the house…a house they would not set foot in for a long, long time.

As they were leaving for the coast where the boat was waiting for them, Laith stopped a few of times to say goodbye to some of his acquaintances. He had no second thoughts about his new chapter, but Laith had to admit this town would miss him. It was his home after all, and one couldn’t help but miss their home and all that came with it, the good and the bad.

When reaching the exit of the village, Ibrahim stopped for a moment after seeing who was waiting for them.

“Oh, so this is what you meant Adam…” Ibrahim said.

“I’m not entirely sure how we could handle an entire tiger, and not a small one at that, when we are too busy watching our backs every step of the way.” Adam clearly wasn’t on board with the idea of bringing an apex predator along with them.

“Don’t worry about it. You handle all the logistics and I’ll be handling him. Besides, he will be the one watching your back.” Laith smirked, patting Râad on the head

“What do you think baba? Your friend will be okay with this?” Adam asked.

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

As if he understood what everyone else was saying, Râad rubbed himself against Laith like a little cat showing his satisfaction. And the four of them proceeded towards their destination. Upon arriving, their navigator had the obvious reaction to seeing the beast, that of confusion, apprehension and fear. It took Ibrahim some haggling to convince him to take the wild animal aboard…namely through financial means, as he suspected.

“Alright boys, seems like the time has finally come.”

Both Laith and Adam didn’t have an immediate response; the words were stuck in their throats.

“Look, we can stay here all day talking about how we’ll miss each other so much and there’s no denying that, but you already had enough of that with your mother. So, instead of the outpouring emotion and the flooding waterworks, I’d like to leave you guys on a different note. A simple reminder will do for me: do not compromise.

“I don’t know what this journey holds for the both of you, but whatever it is you’ll go through, always stay true to yourselves, stand for what you believe in, and never forget to fight for what you think is right. Be it this life or the previous, nothing has changed, rely on yourselves to carve your own path, following your own principles. Never forget that.”

“We won’t forget, we promise!” they both responded in unison just like two disciplined soldiers.

“Now come here you not-so-little shits.” he easily held both of his sons between his broad shoulders as they chuckled a bit before he murmured “Your mother and I will be praying for you, don’t go and die on us now.”

Ibrahim gently pushed them forward. He might not be able to help them walk this journey, but he could still help them start it. It might not have been much, but a helping hand, however small, was always appreciated. It was important that his sons get off on the right foot, and what better way than to take their first step with their father’s support.

And thus, the Kacem brothers hopped on top of the boat alongside their unusual companion, bidding farewell to this land where their home and family resided.

From that point onward, there was no looking back; the quest was at hand. A quest that would take them around a haunting and enchanting world, a quest that would have them meet despicable enemies and formidable friends, a quest that would beat them down and lift them up, a quest that would reshape their views and solidify their beliefs…

A quest that would prove to be an unforgettable voyage.

That quest had finally begun.