Chapter 5: The Mark of Elias
John kept staring at the sea
For a long time.
Longer than he realized.
Even after the notification faded… even after the silence returned…
something inside him refused to settle.
The dream hadn't ended.
It had stayed.
Like a shadow… stretching deeper into his thoughts.
Finally, exhaustion pulled him back.
Back to bed.
Back to the dark.
Sleep came quickly this time.
Too quickly.
And the dream—Returned.
Stronger....Clearer....Waiting.
John wasn't on the shore anymore.
He was somewhere else.
Enclosed.
Silent.
Ancient.
Massive stone walls rose around him, cold and worn, their surfaces carved with countless symbols that seemed to pulse faintly under a dim golden light.
A structure.
No—
A chamber.
Something like a pyramid… buried in time.
The air felt heavy.
Old.
As if it had been sealed for centuries.
John stepped forward slowly.
Drawn.
The carvings covered every inch of the walls—circles, spirals, intersecting lines..
Waves etched over and over again, surrounding what looked like a crude map of the Earth.
Encircled.....Trapped.....Drowning.
John's breath slowed.
"I've seen this…"
He didn't know where.
But he had.
Before.
Then—Footsteps.
Behind him.
John turned sharply.
A figure stood in the shadows.
Still.....Watching.
John's eyes dropped instinctively—To the object in his own hand.
A metallic disk.
Cold.....Heavy.
Unfamiliar—Yet somehow his.
"What time?" John asked, confusion slipping into his voice.
The man stepped forward, the dim light revealing part of his face.
Calm.....Unshaken.
As if he had been waiting.
"My name…" the man said slowly,
"is Elias."
The name echoed in the chamber.
And then—The ground trembled.
At first, just a vibration.
Then stronger.....Violent.
Cracks tore across the stone floor, spreading like veins beneath their feet.
Dust fell from above.
The walls groaned.
And then—Water.
Seeping through the cracks.
From the walls.
From the floor.
From everywhere.
John's eyes widened.
"What's happening?!"
Elias didn't move.
Didn't panic.
He simply looked upward, his expression unchanged.
"It has already begun."
The chamber shook violently now.
Chunks of stone collapsed.
The cracks widened.
Water burst through, rushing in with terrifying force.
Cold.
Relentless.
Rising fast.
John stepped back, panic overtaking him.
"Wait! What am I supposed to do with this?!"
He held up the disk.
Water surged around his legs.
Then his waist.
Then higher.
Elias's voice cut through the chaos.
Calm.....Final.
"Find the mountain… before the ocean does."
The water roared.
The chamber collapsed.
Darkness swallowed everything.
John woke up.....Violently.
A sharp gasp tore from his chest as he shot upright, his heart racing out of control.
Morning light filled the room.
Warm.....Quiet.....Normal....Too normal.
He dragged a hand across his face, breathing hard.
"It was just another dream…"
The words came automatically.
A defense....A habit.
But then—He looked down.
At his right hand.
And everything inside him stopped.
Resting in his palm—Was the disk.
The same metallic disk.
From the dream.
For a moment, John didn't move.
Didn't breathe.....Didn't think.
Reality itself seemed to hesitate.
Then slowly…..He lifted it.
The metal was cold.
Heavier than it looked.
Real....Too real.
Strange symbols curved along its edges—waves, circles intersecting with sharp triangular forms…
And at the center—An eye.
Surrounded by water.....Watching.
John frowned.
"I've seen this before…"
The memory came fast.
Sharp.
A flash from the night before.
The search.
The articles.
Ancient civilizations.
His eyes widened.
"No way…"
He rushed to his laptop, nearly dropping the disk as he opened it with shaking hands.
The screen lit up.
Tabs everywhere.
Dozens of them.
He scrolled rapidly.
Pages flickering past.
Prophecies.
Flood myths.
Lost histories.
Then—He froze.
An image.
A photograph.
A stone tablet.
Old....Buried....Forgotten.
At its center—The same symbol.
Exactly the same.
John leaned closer.
Below it, a line of text:
"A mysterious emblem believed to be associated with an ancient order that warned of cyclical global floods."
John whispered:
"Cyclical… floods?"
The word echoed in his mind.....Again....And again.
A notification sound cut through the silence.
Sharp....Urgent.
John flinched.
Another alert.
BREAKING NEWS
"Scientists report a sudden and unexplained drop in sea levels across multiple coastal regions worldwide."
John's eyes widened slowly.
Mechanically.
He turned his head toward the window.
Toward the sea.
The realization hit him—Hard.
If the ocean was retreating…
Then it wasn't ending.
It was—Preparing.
And Elias's voice returned.
Clear.....Unforgiving.
"Find the mountain… before the ocean does."
John stared back at the screen.
But something else caught his eye.
A small line.
At the bottom corner of the page.
Almost hidden.
Almost not meant to be seen.
AURORA ARCHIVE – Restricted Materia.....He leaned in.
About to click—The screen flickered.
Refreshed.....Everything vanished.....Gone.
Replaced by a single message:
ACCESS DENIED
John blinked.
"What…?"
He checked the connection...Normal....Everything normal.
But when he tried again—The browser froze.
Then—Closed.....By itself.
A cold feeling spread through his chest.
Not fear.....Not yet.....Something worse.
The feeling of being watched.
Thousands of miles away—
In a dimly lit control room filled with glowing screens—
A red alert flashed.
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS DETECTED
A technician leaned forward, frowning.
"That's impossible…"
Behind him, a man in a dark suit stepped closer.
Calm.....Controlled....."What is it?"
The technician zoomed in.
"Someone accessed one of the flood relic files…"
He hesitated.
"…the Elias marker."
Silence fell.....Heavy.
The older man's expression shifted.
Subtle.....But real....."Show me."
The screen changed
A profile appeared.
NAME: John Carter
LOCATION: Coastal City – Atlantic Region
The man studied it.
Then spoke quietly.
"So… after all these years…"
His eyes darkened.
"…the disk has resurfaced."
A pause.
Then:"Activate observation protocol."
The technician hesitated.
"Full monitoring?"
A single nod.
"Everything."
A beat.
"And send a field operative."
Back in his apartment—
John slowly closed the laptop.
The silence returned.
But it wasn't empty anymore.
It was watching.....Waiting.
He moved toward the window again.
Drawn.
Outside—The sea remained distant.
Still retreating.....Still wrong.
And across the street—A black car.
Parked.
Motionless.
It had been there too long.
Inside—
A woman sat in silence, dark glasses hiding her eyes as she watched John's window.
She raised a small radio.
"Target confirmed."
A voice responded:
"Maintain distance. Do not engage."
She didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Just watched.
Then spoke softly—
Words John could never hear:
"The artifact has chosen him."
John stood by the window.
Unaware.
Yet somehow—Not alone anymore.
"If the artifact had chosen him…
then was he meant to survive the flood…
or lead others into it!??