Chapter 97

Unfettered Consciousness

I was floating aimlessly throughout the universe. My consciousness was simultaneously everywhere and nowhere all at once. Here in the void, I saw three figures of darkness and four figures of light.

If I focused on the different entities, I could see them. The entities would go from being a glowing light, to a true entity that was easy to understand. The dark entities were Admiral Lemitov, the Dwenvarian Queen’s Bro Consort, and someone I missed entirely. Someone we all seemed to have missed.

As for the beings of light, I already knew one of them just by the way their energy felt, though I wasn’t quite certain how I knew how energy could feel from sight. As for the other three, they were odd. One was far brighter than the others and I focused in on them. Instantly I felt their bright energy change shape and grow dimmer. It was almost as if the more I realized who they were, the more they seemed to fade from reality. Seeing that I focused on the two lights that were glowing ever so brightly, the ones that seemed odd and alien to my senses.

The brightest one, they were a hunter. At least that was the impression I got from their posture and bearing. There was also the fact that their final form had them wielding a powerful scythe. Who wields a scythe? I mean seriously, that just seems ridiculous.

Then again for the types of beings these Celestials were supposed to be, this weapon sort of made sense. I mean they were meant to be avenging angels or some such nonsense.

Then there were the other two glowing lights. Once again, it seemed that just by looking at them, they began to dim and fade before my very gaze. But I could see them. Both were secretaries at different parts of the military. One desk had the plaque that read Ms. June, while the other had the plaque that read Ms. Allbright. These were of course just names at this point. Names with a vague sense that they were both at different military complexes on his home planet.

***

It felt odd. Now that he was dead, that he was nothing more than a consciousness floating around in space, he could see everything. He finally had his moment to understand everything.

How had he died?

Well, he was still wondering about that. All he knew is that there was a dark bolt of energy that went from Lemitov to him. Something that should have killed him instantly, apparently. Worse, his ship had been on a direct collision course with the flagship before he lost consciousness.

He idly remembered jerking about wildly and hitting the control stick, but he didn’t know if that was enough to get him off the collision course he was set on.

The Admiral apparently got away, that much was apparent from the fact that his glowing light was now far away from where the rest of his fleet was.

Looking down with his detached mind, he tried to find his body. Of course, after the battle his ship would have looked like nothing more than one more husk of a ship floating about lifelessly in the aftermath of the space battle.

Looking down at the wreckage it appeared he had been a little too good with his different attacks. For there were dozens if not hundreds of ships that were all moving about on final trajectories. All with pilots who died behind the wheel. That was the thing about space and inertia, once a ship was moving, they stayed moving.

It took a moment, but I finally found the tether that led to his ship. He had somehow survived, though parts of his ship were bent and dinged up from colliding with different space debris. This was odd, it almost felt like he had unlocked Far Viewing in a way, though he knew it was different. Far Viewing wouldn’t allow him to use his other powers. He also knew that he had used his Revelation Sight to see and find the different forces of his universe. He was close, so close, he could feel it. He also saw the binding marker that tied the remaining three together. It was like they had all been selected for slaughter as they could only sit around and wait for death to come.

So many things. In his next life, if there was a next life, he vowed to do things differently. First off, he would get rid of the stupid wings. Looking down at his body, he wondered why he even had such appendages. Then he felt like a complete moron as he realized he had the ability to hide his abnormalities from the start. He had been given the ultimate form of reprieve from his odd looks with his Master Tier Shapeshifting, but he had been so caught up in his own machinations that he lost sight of it. In the end, he realized that cosmetic changes were minor in the grand scheme of things, but he had been given a way to fix his mishaps.

He also realized that the longer he stayed detached from his body, the less he felt like the body was his own. He felt like it had been a rental body at best. One that he would now have to return to the fold. Even now he somehow realized he was thinking about himself in third person. He had done a lot with this life. According to what he saw, good outshone the bad. The universe was safer. There was now a world tree. Everything was going well, at least that is what he told himself.

If he had to go, then dying on the battlefield would not be such a bad way to go.

Looking down, at the vastness of space, he could see a portal forming off in the distance. Oddly enough it looked like his ship was about to enter the opening rift in space.

“Father! You must awaken yourself.” The voice of Prime his tree came to him. With that, he jerked and twisted.

His spirit that had been so ready to let go of all attachments suddenly spun to life. He fell, then felt his consciousness slam into his body.

***

GASP!

I suck in a deep lungful of air, only to find that my oxygen levels are depleted. A quick scan shows that my hull had been breached. All my auxiliary oxygen had escaped. Now I was left with the oxygen that was protected by my combat suit. The only problem was a quick glance showed that my oxygen levels were at dangerous levels.

I suddenly realized quite a few things. This explained why and how my mind was spinning out, how I was losing consciousness and why I was accepting of death.

Air-X.

I use my air affinity to create a breath of air. Then a second, then a third. Each breath is like honey on my lips. With each breath I can feel my mind slowly awakening.

I struggle to remember everything that I had just seen. I remember the two known Prolaxian Heralds, then the third.

In a second I remember how my rebel tree saved me. They brought me back from the brink of death.

Then I remember the most important part. The magic portal that was forming in front of me. I begin trying to spin up my ship, trying to move away from the direct collision course with the spell that is being poorly formed. If I wanted, I could take control of the portal and shut it down entirely. I am about to do that, to turn away from the portal that goes to where only the Gods know, when I hear a voice again.

“Father, wait.”

“What?” I ask, though with my lack of oxygen and severely dry throat it comes out as more of a wheeze than anything.

“Father, just wait.” Prime states, again.

I like an idiot look around for the source of the voice. Of course, only after I look around do I realize I am in the middle of space and looking for a talking tree. I want to blame it on the oxygen deprivation, in fact I decide to do just that.

I am so busy trying to regain my faculties, that I miss the moment the portal before me locks into place and I lifelessly glide through it. I begin trying to activate my ship, hitting the auxiliary power supply sources and what not.

Vrr-cough-sputter.

Yeah, it was dead. Worse, there were ships right on the other end of the portal. Ships that I was about to crash into. Was this some sort of invasion? Did Astra create a second portal so rescue and salvage ships could be sent to the battlefield?

I could feel the minds of people all around the other end of the portal. But then I also felt her.

Badump. Badump. Badump.

My heart started beating faster, as I felt a warmth right in my very core ignite. An empty part of me was right there, being re-awakened.

Then to make matters worse.

“Father! You have finally come to us.”

“Hooray, father’s here.”

“Father, father…”

“I need to speak to him first.”

“No, I do…”

There were four voices, at least that is what I got from the rapid-fire shouts in my mind. Idly I wondered if this is what happened to Uncle Lou, the one time he came back to visit his kids for the holiday? Of course, after this, I fully understand why he left and never came back.

“Hey! That is not very nice.”

“Yeah, Prime has been hogging you all to herself.”

Yeah, and these trees can all read my mind as well. Yep, this won’t be annoying at all.

My ship’s forward momentum was stopped by the liberal use of Telekinesis. Of course, I could tell what power was being used against me, especially now that I had a superior version of it. The only problem was that I have no way of stopping it, unlike magical abilities. Not that I particularly wanted to continue flying aimlessly into space, mind you. I would just like the ability to stop whatever would happen next if it came to such an event.

“Father. They want me to tell you to just hold still and that you will be rescued shortly.” One of the trees spoke.

I had no real way of knowing what the tree voices were, other than they were different decibels of annoying within my mind.

“I am Nothing.”

“I am Omen.”

“I am Hunger.”

“I am Deca.”

They all say in near unison right in my mind. I sigh, noting that they all have chosen stupid names for themselves. I don’t even want to know where or why they got these names.

“I am the ninth iteration of the first great tree. And nine is phonetically the same thing as the German word for no.” The one calling himself Nothing states.

“See, this is why kids should not be allowed to name themselves.” I mutter to myself.

The others also go through their stories about how they got their names to be equally annoying and pretentious. The only one that at all seems accurate is Omen, in that they are likely a bad Omen.

The sad part, well the worst part about all this. With my power down and communication system offline, I need to have open dialog with the trees, so I can find out what is going on.

Apparently, Wizard me, was the one who opened the portal to my universe. His version of Jess is sick, or something and they need me to heal her?

I am about to not do anything. When I twist. At least I try to turn my back, only to find that my metallic butterfly wing is caught within my chair. Then like a cosplayer who realizes they are about to go from a convention, straight to a family reunion, I panic for a second.

I can’t let that loser Wizard version of me, see me in this state. That is when I remember my revelation from my near-death experience. I begin to use Master Tier Shapeshifting.

Now I have never used this power before, but the threat of future embarrassment is the mother of all learning and all that.

With that in mind I focus on my wings and slowly begin to pull them into my body. I let them slide under my skin. I don’t want to get rid of them. They are metal plated wings that can survive in space and shrug off blaster fire like it was nothing. If anything, I want the wings to cover more of my body, but in a less obvious way. That is why I begin to let the wings dig into my body and slide under my skin.

Oddly enough, it doesn’t hurt, but it does tingle in that way your skin does when it is being stretched.

The process is long and slow, at least that is the way it feels to me. But finally, I feel an intense cold on my back, as my wings no longer fill in the hole of the back plate of my space suit. I want to fix that but realize that is now the least of my worries. If I am jettisoned into space, I realize I am just a short Total Recall away from going to my own universe.

With my wings hidden under my skin, I look in the reflective mirror and see my hideous eyes. The eyes that speak of me having excessive amounts of power. With a sigh, I change those back. Well, I just change them to a green. I even change my hair color so that it is sandy blond. Now for the first time in this lifetime I look and almost feel normal.

Almost, there is still that intense cold draft of wind that is blowing down my back. I realize now that I don’t have my wings, I will need deal with the cold seeping into my space suit. Fortunately for me, by the time I am done with everything. I am already aboard an older model Endarian Capital class ship.

I am taken through a series of compression locked doors and seals. Until finally taken to the fully stabilized hanger. Only once I am there do I hear the hiss of magnetic locks being released, after which my hatch opens and allows me to get out.

I move, my body stiff from having been in one cramped position for so long. Thinking about it, it had been a bit of a day. I started off with the dogfight, well that’s what it should have been, but it was more of a slaughter, until it wasn’t. Then I nearly died.

At the thought of the dark lightning bolt that struck me, I instinctively grab for my chest. I wonder how I survived. But then in a flash of Precognitive-X insight, I am reminded of my title.

Title Gained: Herald Slayer X5 Herald Slayer X5: You have killed five of the legendary Heralds of the apocalypse. You have managed to kill them in such a way that they will never respawn in any time restart. For this you gain a blessing. All attributes increased by 5% (X5 for a total of 25%). You are now 50% more resistant to all Herald events.

With that, I realize I am likely far luckier to have killed so many of those things permanently. I also realize that there are two more awaiting me after my next time reset.

Wow, saved by a title. Well, the resistances that came from the title, but basically the same thing. With that I take in a deep breath, and then let it out. There is more to do. So much more to do. The first and foremost thing I need to do, is get rid of this pair bonding with my soul.

At least that is my plan, before I get down from my craft, turn around, and see her.

Badump. Badump. Badump.