The image disappeared into a puff of clouds, leaving me floating in a black void. There weren’t any stars or lights of any kind, but my own body glowed slightly and gave light around me.

The history that I just witnessed was still thick in my mind. I couldn’t make my body stop trembling as emotions ripped through me.

Fear of what I just saw. Fear for the people I didn’t even know, for a people that didn’t even exist anymore. And knowing that it was going to happen to Earth. Just the thought of watching my family turn into monsters in front of me nearly dropped me to my knees.

Grief for the lives that were so easily swallowed up washed over me. I didn’t know if it was because of my connection to Goddess, but I felt all her heartbreak in my chest. It was like a fist was tightening around my heart, making it hard to breathe. I empathized with her desire to protect her people and her devastation at not being able to.

I felt anger too, both Goddess’s and my own. Anger at the parasite. That it did this over and over. And that it wanted to do the same to Earth. I’d die before I let it succeed.

But another part of me was sad. Sad for Goddess. And sad for Kesstel, because he went through the same thing too. Only he didn’t just watch his people fall, he physically experienced the change that turned his people — and his only surviving brother — into monsters.

All those emotions, and more that I couldn’t even name, mixed in me and blended with the physical pain that was still terrorizing my body. Now that I didn’t have anything to distract me, the physical pain came back. It wasn’t as intense anymore, no longer threatening to kill me with the pain.

Mentally I started to piece everything together, joining the clues that I’d gleaned since I got the System. Goddess’s planet was attacked and her people were turned into Blood Mists. The next planet that was attacked was Kesstel’s, and the Blood Mists were responsible for killing most of his people. He turned into the Boss of his remnant world and, under the parasite’s control, wiped out several more planets, including the one whose people turned into the Red Orcs. After some time, Kesstel was able to get his mind back and left his Portal, which collapsed the remnant of his world, Kathar. He then killed all of the Blood Mists. And some time after that, the Red Orcs' remnant world dissolved and they were put into Goddess’s world. Then after several worlds, Kesstel ended up on Earth, and the Orcs took me into the remnant world of Vapria where Goddess gave me the System.

As I put things in order, the blackness began to brighten and shapes started to form around me. It took me a second to realize that I was back in the garden courtyard in Goddess’s palace again. I was in the same position I was before Goddess handed me the kindjal, and the garden looked exactly the same as before the visions.

A transparent image of Goddess appeared, the same gorgeous young woman I first talked to. She smiled at me, her silver hair and dress dancing around her. “Congratulations on not dying,” she said simply. “I know it still hurts, but you’re through the worst part now. Now there are several things I need to talk to you about. First off, your reward.”

I swallowed painfully. “A reward for what?” It hurt moving my mouth to talk, just like it hurt holding the weightless kindjal in my right hand.

“For surviving everything that I’ve asked you to do. I didn’t want you to die, but I didn’t hold back on treating you like a puppet for everything that I wanted. You, after all, were originally just a tool I was using. I think it’s only fair that you are rewarded for it. And I know how desperately you’ve been looking for it.” She cupped her hands in front of her. An intricate glass bottle appeared, floating over her palms. Inside was a pink liquid. All in all, it looked a lot like an expensive perfume.

“What is this?” I asked and took the bottle she offered, trying to ignore the pain that came from moving. It landed gently in my left hand, and I could feel the chill of the glass through my open finger gloves.

“The antidote for the Sleeper illness,” Goddess said simply.

My breathing stopped and my eyes widened with shock. My lips parted as I stared down at the delicate bottle in my hand. “The antidote?” My voice shook.

“Mm.” She hummed as she nodded. “But that’s the only dose. It can only heal one person. My world’s technology was never as advanced as Earth’s, so making the antidote was difficult for me. That bottle is the only one that survived when my world collapsed.”

It was like holding my mother’s life in my hands. The idea terrified me, especially with how much my hands were trembling. Carefully, I stored it in my Items Bag before I could drop it. Then I paused. There were so many afflicted with the Sleeper disease. “So, only one person can be healed,” I muttered. I looked into her eyes. “What’s the formula? If I had that, the scientists on Earth could replicate it, right?”

She sighed and moved her hands in a lost manner. “Yes, I believe they could make it. All of the ingredients are available on Earth, whether natural or introduced through the Gates. However, I’m limited by your vocabulary.” When I stared at her blankly, she explained more. “All of my understanding of your dialect is through you. If you don’t know the word, I don’t know it. I could tell you the ingredients of the antidote, but more than half of it would be in my dialect. Earth’s scientists wouldn’t understand it because there’s no way for me to translate it, simply because I don’t know the words to translate it into, since you don’t know the terms. You would understand the term a little, but it’s like an eight year old reading an advanced chemistry book. You could sound out the word, but wouldn’t understand what it means.” She paused. “Do you understand?”

I nodded dully. “But this will save my mother,” I asked again, motioning to the vial in my hand. That was all that I could ask for. After all, I wasn’t really so determined to save Earth for all the people. I wanted to save it for my family, because they lived on it. That included my mom. I would never let them turn into monsters like Goddess’s people.

Goddess nodded. “Yes. It will wake her up.” She looked me up and down, as if she was looking at more than my face. It was like her silver eyes could see into my very soul. “I think you are ready for the next step.”

Really? I was still in such pain. Still, I nodded. “Okay.”

She opened her arms and motioned to the thick mist that swirled around us. “Cultivate and absorb this mist. All of it. This mist, that is a part of me, is the last item I can give you. From then on, anything you get will be acquired by your own hands.” She paused. “And then, Jyn, purify the remnant of my city of those disgusting monsters.” Her eyes started to glow in anger. “Every single Orc tainting the last memento of my people should be erased.”

My eyes widened. It was a tall order, just like everything else she’d told me to do. Still, I nodded. “Okay.”

She grinned, tilting her head to the side in an almost girlish manner. “Thank you.” She drifted over to me for a hug. Her transparent arms wrapped around me, but I couldn’t feel her body at all. Then she converged into a small glowing ball of light and merged with the glowing kindjal. The kindjal disappeared into my Items Bag.

I looked around at the mist filling the palace. It was so thick, I couldn’t see the actual structure of the building. I knew the palace was huge from the visions, but I’d been too busy watching what was happening to remember to actually look at it. All I could remember was that it was pretty. Maybe I’d finally get a chance to see it when all the mist was gone.

I slowly sat, crossed my aching legs, and naturally relaxed into the right position. As soon as I stopped moving, the pain subsided enough for me to open my mind to cultivate.

Mentally, I reached out and touched the mist floating around me. At first it resisted me, like when I first encountered the wall of Mist around the palace. Then it wrapped around my will like a handshake and willingly moved into my body.

At first it was like a dip. Then a trickle. As the mist pooled in my stomach and spread throughout my body. It was both cold and hot at the same time, the two extremes fluctuating in my aching body.

With the cold sweat, a feeling of power invaded my body. When I cultivated in Gate Vale, I could feel my power growing because of the extra mist I was storing inside my body. It wasn’t the mist itself that was necessarily empowering me, but it was filling up my magic stores. The more that was in it, the more I could do with it. But this mist was completely different. I could feel the essence of Goddess inside the mist. The mist itself was enhancing me. It collided with the energy still upgrading my body and clashed like a lightning storm. Jolts of pain added to the hot and cold sensations coursing through my body.

I gasped and almost collapsed. Luckily, I was already so ridgid that I didn’t slip out of form. But god, did it hurt.

It wasn’t just the mist that was filling my body. The more I cultivated, the more thoughts that didn’t belong to me flooded my mind. It was as if someone was turning the pages of a book in my mind, each time the page was turned, that knowledge was downloading into my mind. As soon as that was done, a new page turned. Information on the Warriors of Mist overloaded my brain, cramming into every available corner. More than fascinating, it was overwhelming.

My face contorted as a stabbing migraine threatened to split my head in half, but still I didn’t stop cultivating the mist. I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to. The mist was now on autopilot, actively filling my body without any effort on my part. And with the mist, the knowledge that came with it.

It was all so much. Too much. The chaos of the energy and mist colliding in my cells, the endless terms, moves and the battle plans for the Warriors of Mist in my mind. It was out of my control. A slight panic sparked inside me. I spent an entire year of hell, not being able to control my life. I’d gotten used to finally having a say on what I did and how I did things. But this, this was completely beyond me. The more I couldn’t force the mist and energy to obey my will, the more the small seed of panic grew.

What if I lost my mind like Kesstel? I believed Goddess wasn’t trying to hurt or subjugate me, but a human’s mind was different than a goddess’s. What if she was wrong? What if this was too much for me?

As doubts crept in, the pain in my body and mind intensified.

Panting painfully, I cracked my eyes open. I just needed a little distraction, just enough to settle my mind.

In my narrow field of vision, I could see the mist twisting and funneling into my body. My body that … wasn’t completely solid anymore.

My eyes flared wide as I stared at my fingers still pressed together in cultivating position. I could see my legs through their outline. Like I was turning into a ghost.

*****