MATT LORD from Mu
Bio provided by author:
Shy, nervous and lacking self-confidence, Matt's always had a bit of a weak spot for Steph, yet he has never had the courage to ask her out. He's a keen sportsman and enjoys playing football, cricket and, most of all, golf. Matt's also quite intelligent, if he manages to apply himself - at other times he can come across as being a bit stupid and naive. He relies on other people a lot to help him lead his life and finds it difficult to make decisions on his own.
Matt originally came from Yorkshire and his family moved down to Suffolk when he was 14. It was then that he met people such as Oli and of course Steph, whom he was infatuated with for years. Yet he never gained the confidence to tell her to her face, and his love remained unrequited even when he went off to Huddersfield University to study Law.
His life changed radically when he was pulled through a mysterious gateway to another world, along with Steph. After waking up on the other side, he discovered that he had some sort of mysterious power. The humans living on this other world, the Mu, called him the Hero of Destiny, and he was charged with the mission to find seven temples of the Ancients and activate them to help fight a powerful enemy.
As his journey began, he met a Mu girl called Farengezie, who was instantly attracted to him. After a few adventures, Matt realised that he liked her too, and they embraced. Soon afterwards, however, the insane Tesni killed Farengezie right in front of his eyes.
This extract is set just after her death, as Matt begins to question his purpose.
MATT SCENE #1:
Matt, meanwhile, had also secluded himself, he was mourning Farengezie’s death and how he could have saved her, if he were a better warrior. He was angry with himself, angry about his inability to fight Tesni, to defeat her. So far he hadn’t won a true victory, it was always luck that had saved him. Now someone had paid for his incompetence with her life, someone he cared about. Before, the journey had seemed light, fantastical, almost fun, but now he had seen the price of failure, the truth of death. And it hurt him. He was still wearing his blood stained, torn sweatshirt, a reminder of what had happened, of his failure to protect the one he loved. He didn’t want to continue with his journey now, in case someone else was killed because of what he was incapable of doing. Matthew Lord, student of Business at the University of Huddersfield, keen golfer, shy short guy, known by his friends for his lack of success with women. That was who he was, not some ‘destined hero’ out to save the world from the enemy of some long-dead race. He looked at the lifeless crystal shard that sat on a small bedside table, there was no gleam to it, no magical glow like there once was. He had sacrificed that power, or at least something inside of him had for he wasn’t in control of himself at that time. If it still had power then he could’ve saved Farengezie, defeated Tesni and been a hero, but instead he had to watch the girl he loved die in front of his own eyes. He hated whatever it was that was inside him, whatever these so-called ‘Ancients’ had made him do, and he wanted to be rid of it once and for all. Yet he didn’t know how to do that, for all he knew, he was stuck with this ‘power’ for the rest of his life. For the first time in his twenty years of living, Matt wanted to die. He stared up at the ceiling and sighed,
"What’s with all these unfamiliar ceilings"" he murmured before he fell into a deep, life-changing sleep.
---
Matt hadn’t had a dream like this for a while and he had almost forgotten what it was like. He was standing high atop a mountain, the clouds spread out like a cotton blanket below him. The twin moons cast yellow and blue light across the world as their crescents hung serenely in the perfectly clear aqua sky above him, which was slowly turning to purple as the sun set. Everything seemed just as he knew it to be, yet something was different, everything felt...older.
"When they came here, the planet was bare, its population gone,"
Matt looked around at Farengezie as she sat down on the mountain’s edge nearby.
"It wasn’t always like that, once there lived a great race here, one of several that knew of the seven elemental forces that kept the universe in balance," she continued, "And they were but children compared to those who had come before them. But none of those races existed anymore, they had all vanished, just as this one was about to."
Matt looked back at the sky, night was coming but somehow this night felt different, almost familiar.
"When they came here, they knew it wouldn’t be long until the end. They told us that they were leaving, that there was nothing we could do about it. They also told us that one day we would have to carry on their legacy and that there would be others too."
Matt was slightly puzzled at all the information he was receiving and he started to doubt whether this was a dream or not, but the other didn’t notice his discomfort and continued,
"We aren’t pure Elementals, we can’t find the seven treasures. With them we could finally unlock the powers of our old mentors and continue their legacy, maybe even one day going up against and defeating the Great Enemy ourselves..."
Matt’s curiosity finally got the better of him, "Who are you?" he asked,
"That’s a dangerous question," she replied, "There’s never a good answer for it. But I can tell you what you are," their eyes met, but they weren’t the eyes of the late Farengezie, they didn’t even see human,
"What am I?" Matt stuttered,
"You, are the Third," ‘she’ replied,
Matt looked even more confused, but then his attention was drawn towards the sky again, something was happening, he could feel it.
"This is how it was on that fateful day, five hundred thousand years ago," the impostor told him.
"What? What’s going on? Is this a dream?" Matt was even more confused now, everything seemed so very real, but at the same time so very fantastical. Then everything changed.
Matt was standing in one of the Elemental Temples, not the one at Solax, but a similar one. From the brown window at the far end of the room, he assumed this was the Earth Temple. From behind him stepped Farengezie, but this time it was the real one, Matt could at least tell that was true.
"Please, Matt, don’t give up," she implored, "You have to keep going, you must find out what this is all about! Only you can do this, please, don’t give up, if only for me..."
Matt was trembling now, everything was so very real yet he was so confused by it all.
"Don’t let my death be in vain..." Farengezie begged, then she vanished into thin air. Matt felt a tear fall down his cheek, then he noticed a figure standing in the shadows,
"We are waiting for you," it said, "We will watch over you until we finally meet face to face. For now, do as your heart tells you, their essence lives on within you, Matthew Lord, it shall guide you."
Matt was just too bewildered by all that he had seen and heard, and he had no idea what to say, "Who are you?" he repeated,
"The same as you, but different," it replied. Then that dream ended, and Matt found himself reliving the last moments of Farengezie’s life over and over again, until he finally understood, finally accepted what had happened. When Matt woke up the next morning, he felt alive once again. Farengezie may be dead, but her spirit, her dreams, lived on. He had to continue with the quest, continue to look for a way home, or her death would have been for nothing.