Chapter 20: Ch 20: Turning Point Two

+++ ???’s Perspective +++

“What’s going on, why hasn’t the awakening finished yet?” A woman in priestly robes walked into the altar room, annoyed that her next appointment had to be delayed, “It’s been three hours already.”

“His body is rejecting interference.” The head priest replied. “We’ve barely supplemented a quarter of the mana required for the procedure.”

The head priest pointed to the 12 blue manastones lying along the altar, four of which had been drained of color already.

“Half?!” The woman was astonished, “At this rate it will take the whole night.”

“It would seem s-” At that exact moment a nearby manastone shut off and blackened. “What the-”

“Hey, isn't that one of the mana supplements? I thought his body was rejectin-”

A swirling noise, before another manastone was drained.

“W-what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure, he’s suddenly draining the mana far too quickly.”

SWIRL.

Two more stones had their contents sucked out of them.

A low rumbling noise echoed from the altar before the rest of the stones were drained as well.

“Is it... over?”

“No.” The head priest felt the air vibrate, before-

The room dropped a few degrees and...

Bam.

One of the lights went out.

“He’s absorbing mana from everything nearby.” The hand of the priest glowed yellow as he prepared to perform drastic measures, “Sister, fetch more manastones, the boy is in danger.”

 

+++ ???’s Perspective +++

“giVe! iT! bAaaAaaAACkKk!”

CHOMP.

“AAHHH!” I screamed as teeth pieced flesh.

It had torn a chunk out of my thigh. 

“Get off me!” I yelled as I slammed my left fist into where its face  should be, but to no avail. My hand just sank into the writhing heap that surrounded its skeleton. 

CRUNCH.

I yelled once more as my hand was crushed beneath the folds of its flesh.

As my scream reverberated off the walls, time seemed to slow once more.

I had experienced this once before, in the catacombs below Talis.

I was able to think of a way out then, a plan to escape certain death,

But not here.

My left hand was shattered and lodged in its cheek. My legs were pinned against the flooring and half my right thigh was missing.

I’m out of options.

This is it.

I’m dead.

‘Spell.’

A voice spoke into my mind.

What?

Who was that?

‘Cast a Spell. Moron.’

...

“Icicle spear!” Raising my right arm a stick of ice formed in my palms.

The creature was too close for me to shoot it with the projectile, so I grit my teeth and swung the shard of ice into it.

“AEsaRARdsaA.” Nonsensical screeches came out of its mouth as I lodged the piece of ice into the writhing mass.

It sumbled back and let me go, claws scrapping my legs as it did so.

I pulled myself forward with one arm before realizing I was never going to make it to the exit.

However...

It was far enough away now.

“Ember.” I was too sure, but it seems like something weak to fire element spells.

As the projectile of flame smashed into it, it screeched once more but... I could see black tar repairing the parts I had damaged.

It didn’t seem like it did any significant damage.

Okay, fine.

“Icicle Spear.” A shard of ice fired out into it, and a scream accompanied the impact. The noises were bone chilling. I was definitely hurting it, but it seemed to be...

Regenerating really fast.

Fast enough that it was actually growing closer to me. 

“Icicle Spear. Icicle Spear. Icicle Spear.” I hurled spears as fast as I could, but the acceleration of its regeneration was slowly out pacing me.

‘Too small. Bigger spell.’

What the hell do you mean? Icicle spear was the highest rank spell I knew.

...

‘Icicle Lance.’

I can’t cast that, I don’t have the mana or the training.

‘Then die.’

Whoever you are, you really aren’t giving me much of a choice huh.

“Icicle lance.” At first nothing happened; the creature just grew closer until its stick line hands were once again touching my feet.

But then.

A long pillar of ice formed behind me and hurtled itself into the creature.

A screech, loud enough to burst eardrums now. I held my ears, but they were already bleeding.

‘Frozen binding’

 “Frozen binding.” 

A wave of ice spread out and rooted the base of the monster.

‘Glaciate.’  

“Glaciate.”

A cold frost entombed the flesh pile.

‘Soul

Shatter.”

And it broke apart, into pieces of fine ice. 

“Ha... ha... ha...”

Deep breaths.

Calm down, it's gone.

‘No it's not.’

As if waiting for those words, frozen chunks of black flesh started to thaw and reform itself.

You have got to be kidding me.

‘Run.’

“I can’t!” I shout, gesturing to my right leg. There were several chunks missing from it. There’s no way I can walk in that condition. I was amazed I hadn’t fainted from the pain yet.

‘Then die.’

This.

Bastard.

“Spirits of wind, the majesty of those who rule the skies...” I began to chant.

I had read this incantation in a fairy tale book once.

“Bound by none but the Lord above, I beseech this prayer unto you.”

I had no way of knowing if this would work or not.

“Grace me with your favor, so I may taste the freedom of the empyrean domain.”

But right here, right now, I felt like I wasn’t bound by what was possible.

“King Class Spell, Fly.”

‘Oh. Not bad.’

As wind gathered around me, I rose, weightless, my body moving with only the assistance of my thoughts.

“kRWAsSUaghAAA!” The monster had been reborn, taller, and even more grotesque than before.

But sticking around to admire the changes was certainly not something I had planned.

I flew. As fast as I could, out of the tunnel.

Light poured into my eyes as I returned to the strange intersection.

But perhaps because it was my first time controlling a spell like that I slammed into the marble wall right as I made my way out.

“Oof!” I flew too fast and it knocked the wind out of me.

Clank. Clank.

Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank.

The creature didn’t want to let me go, it raced after me.

“Are you kidding me? Does that thing ever give up?” 

“No.” I was preparing another ice spell before I realized there was someone else standing at the intersection.

He was tall, in a navy blue suit and had black hair that was swept to the side while wearing square glasses. 

He was... unbearably familiar.

With a crank of a lever that I didn’t even see, he closed the tunnel.

Thud.

I heard the creature slamming into the wall.

It screamed in that ear piercing screech before...

Silence.

“Ha... ha... Who are you? You’re not the priest are you?” He definitely wasn’t a priest.

“I’m you, idiot.”

And what’s more.

He was speaking English.

“Wha-... Are you?” 

“From Earth? Stand up, I refuse to have a conversation with someone lying on the floor.” He spoke, in a voice that I’ve heard before... in my dreams.

“Excuse me, but I’m injured.”

“No you’re not.”

“Yes I...” I looked down to realize that my wounds were gone, there wasn’t a single evidence of the battle besides the dust on my clothes, “Okay I really don’t understand what’s going on.”

Regardless, I was certain he saved me, so I should return the sentiment. 

I stood up and brushed myself off before bowing and saying: “I apologize for my impoliteness. I introduce myself as Alfon Adelmire, may I request the name of my savior?”

He narrowed his eyes at me, “You need not introduce yourself to yourself Alfon, or Alex, or whichever name you prefer. I am you and this is your world.”

“Excuse me?”

“Come with me,” He turned to walk through the center path, the one that opened up to an extremely wide area, “the explanation will take a while.”

++

“That was... a lot.” I stared blankly in disbelief.

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“Believe it if you want to. By the way things are going you’ll be dead soon enough anyway.”

So.

Long story short.

I was reborn, but I wasn’t supposed to be.

“You’re telling me I just... up and stole this guy’s body?”

“Your soul is anchored to him, yes. You are bound within the body of Alfon Adelmire, but your soul still contains the shards of the memories you had on earth. They will come back to you in time.”

“And the monster that I fought...”

“Is the original, yes.”

Scary.

“The original Alfon Adelmire is imprisoned within you. It is constantly looking for a way to escape and reclaim its rightful flesh.”

“Could you tell me about who I used to be?” I asked.

“No.” He replied curtly.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

Touche.

He continued, “I am here only to guide you on what steps you should take to survive. Figure out the rest yourself.”

“Guide me? If you really are me, then shouldn’t your highest priority be to make sure I live?” I reasoned.

“Correct. Which is why I’m not telling you about your past life.”

The words he spoke left a sorrowful feeling hanging in the air that I couldn’t respond to.

As we continued down the hallway, the path grew bigger and my surroundings grew brighter. 

“We’re short on time.” He uttered, and picked up the pace.

“Where are we going?” I questioned.

“You’ll see.”

“Speaking of which, where am I anyway? This clearly isn’t the temple.”

“If you haven’t figured it out by now you don’t deserve to know.”

God.

This guy was really annoying.

Was I that big of a jerk in my past life?

+

It took a while before we arrived at a large auditorium-like space. It looked like an opera house with a 360 degree view of the stage, though the seats and walls were a bit damaged. In the center was a large, pulsating crystal the size of a small building. 

“What the hell...” I stood dumbfounded at the strange sight, it felt all sorts of weird.

“There. Pick that up.” The... alternate version of myself pointed at a glowing book placed in the middle of the stage.

I was considering asking him the reasoning behind it, but judging from his narrowing eyes I better just listen to him.

It's not like ‘I’ would harm me right?

Making my way down the stairs I could feel the pulses of the giant crystal.

Badump.

It felt soothing, and bright.

I reached the book and grabbed it from the stage only to realize...

“This is.... So heavy.”

It felt surprisingly heavy.

Similar to the density of gold.

Was it even made of paper?

‘No.’

I looked up at the alternate me.

Oh.

So that’s where the voice came from.

‘God you are slow.’

Well, excuse me.

“Hey what is this anyway?” I called out to him as I headed back to the entrance.

“My compensation. Or rather, your compensation.”

“Can you please stop it with the riddles?” I was honestly too tired to think.

He sighed before clarifying: “It's a chronicle of what was supposed to happen in this world before your interference.”

“Oh neat,” I was flipping through the book already, which... had a strange property of being seemingly endless. I landed on a page with several portraits of people on them and pointed, “Who are these guys?”

“The main characters.”

“...Huh.”

Was this like some sort of novel or something?

‘It’s a book of prophecy, written in a way that you would find colloquial.’

Stop doing that.

‘Doing what?’

“Speaking into my brain.” I shuddered, “It feels strange.”

RUMBLE.

The floor beneath me glowed a brilliant yellow.

The alternate version pushed up his glasses and fixed his tie, “We’re out of time because you were slow.”

“What?”

Ignoring me, he continued: “So I’ll give you the short version. By entering this world in the place of the original you’ve changed the story. There are too many points to recount, but the most significant of which is that you’ve taken Moritis the Soul Reaver into your party and heavily impacted the future of Apocalypse Rafine.”

“Those are some ominous titles. You mean Nina and master Rafine right?”

He continued to ignore me: “This poses a problem since the Book of Prophecy is not retroactive.”

“Oh.”

“The more you change the world line, the less help it shall be to you.”

“Is that an issue?” I tilted my head, “Do I need it to live?”

“Yes. The less you follow the original world line, the more the rightful soul of Alfon begins to take over. Call it a sort of ‘anti-tampering’ measure. Stray from the main events too much, and your soul will be replaced.”

“What if that happens? Do I die?”

“No, you...” He looked down as his eyes glazed over, “...we suffer a fate worse than death. Far, far worse.”

....

Yikes.

RUMBLE.

I could see the auditorium around us starting to glow a blinding golden hue, and my alternate self fading apart into shards of light.

“H-Hey are you okay?” I asked, worriedly.

“It appears the awakening is almost finished,” He whispered, then he turned to me, hazel coloured eyes staring into mine. “Lastly, and most importantly: the talent for magic is not your own. It belongs to the original Alfon Adelmire. The more you use it, the more influence his soul has over yours. Find your own ground to stand on, your own talent.”

“Won’t that change the world lines as well?” I panickingly yelled, as the ground beneath me started to break.

“If the events that need to happen, happen, then the ways they occur do not matter.”

He turned to me one last time, and before he entirely faded to light, he spoke these words:

“Live happy. For those of us that couldn’t.”

 

++

GASP.

I sat straight up. Heart pounding and body soaked in sweat. Every sense I had was ringing in my ears.

“He’s awake! Get me a sensor!” Oh. It was the head priest this time.

Amidst the noisy dissonance that was my pounding headache, and the various conversations of the nuns and the priests about scheduling troubles, I could faintly make out the words of the head priest.

“Congratulations. Alfon Adelmire, your aptitude for magic is historical.”

Ha.

As if that would do me any good.

 

++

I flopped onto the bed, tired beyond belief. 

Once the news of my aptitude results came out, mother and master Rafine were dancing for joy. Even Prisilla was happy for me, though I’m pretty sure she didn’t quite understand everything that was happening.

‘Oh dear, my baby you’re amazing.’

‘You truly are a genius Alfon. I’m looking forward to our growth.’

‘Nice goin’ nya! Magic powers go pew nya!’

Were some of the things they said to me. 

What disturbed me, however, was how Nina was keeping her distance from me.

Even without anything happening she’d be all over me, poking me with her horns and such. But she didn’t say anything the whole afternoon, nor during our celebratory dinner.

She just stared at me, barely smiling.

I didn’t.... Piss her off did I?

“Let’s not think about that too much.” I reached my hand into the backpack I got from Lord Dale and rummaged around until I found what I was looking for.

“There you are.” 

The Book of Prophecy, The Sacred Texts, etcetera etcetera. From the moment I stepped out of the temple I knew the book and I were linked, and I could feel its presence residing in the inn we stayed at.

This was a rare moment of alone time. Mother and master Rafine were out drinking to celebrate and Prisilla had picked Nina up to go... make money while we still had the chance. I had told them how tired I was so I had permission to go to sleep first.

It was just me, myself, and I, so shall we give this book a try?

 

+++

No.

That can’t be right.

I must have read it wrong. Let’s try again.

 

++

Nononononono, this can’t be happening. T-There’s no way.

 

+

“Alfyyyy, where are you?” Mother drunkenly opened the door to our room.

“H-Here mom.”  I stood awkwardly in front of my backpack, where I had hidden the shiny book.

“E-eeehhh. You’re not asleep yet? Come here dearrrrr.”

As mother and I lay down to sleep, there were a lot of things that raced through my mind.

Why I was a foreign entity in this body.

How I could change the tragedy that would befall this world.

Whether or not I could entirely trust what had happened during the awakening.

But as the warmth of my mother surrounded me, a slow, heavy guilt started to make itself known in my heart.

The only thing keeping it from crushing me was the knowledge of what I had read within the Book of Prophecy.

“The original Alfon Adelmire,” I whispered to myself.

“Was an irredeemable bastard.”

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