by Andur
“What?” -Celes
But I already teleport straight down into the planets core.
“Mwahahaha!” I laugh, as I turn in a circle and look at the wonder around me. An eternity ago during the great war between me and Celes I started a project.
I wanted to create something worthy of a god! The inspiration for it was given by the crystal city of the Council. I often tried to recreate those crystals, but it was insanely difficult.
Imagine a substance that's durable enough to withstand even the power of a god. That's the crystal city at the middle of all things. I wanted that technology! But I was unable to recreate it. No matter what I tried, I ended up with failures.
Then one day, as I was watching a crystal grow, I had an enlightenment. The crystal city wasn't created! It grew like all crystals do! If you gather enough mana in one point, it crystallizes and you end up with something that looks and feels like solid matter but isn't. It's pure mana.
So I created a seed and set it free down here inside the planets core. It should have taken hundreds, thousands of years to mature. But on the other hand I guess that much time really went by since then?
I am inside a room made out of mana-crystal. The same crystal which the Council used to build it's city. I step forward and leave the room. I need to get to the core.
There is no need to search for it. I can feel the huge power, which is collected inside the core. After a few corridors I reach a room with a huge crystal inside. It looks wild and naturally grown. But it's the heart of this structure.
I touch the crystal and feel the power inside it. After a little concentration I give it the command to rise to the surface. The crystal hums as if it wants to reassure me that it understood the order.
Then I instruct it to teleport me to the armoury. The world shifts smoothly and I am inside an immense room.
It is filled with rows and rows of weapons, armours and artefacts. They are all out of crystal. Weapons which can strike down even gods.
But I avert my eyes, those weapons are of no interest to me. I walk to the end of the room where a staff is resting on a pedestal.
It looks like an ordinary staff, about the same length as my height. But if you look closely, you can see that it is riddled with countless fine runes and circles.
I grab it and feel the power pulsing through it. This is my masterpiece. A weapon worthy of a god.
But suddenly I see the reflection of my savage grin in the mirror. Damn, do I really look that scary every time Celes complains about my expression?
Uuuh. Why am I wasting time here. I concentrate again until I have found Celes. Then I teleport.
I arrive at a battlefield. Multiple soldiers are trying to stop Tjenemit with their regained powers. He is hovering a few meters above the ground while he sends out blasts of pure power at everyone who decides to attack him. Among them are Celes, Arthur, Tanja, Gabriel and Nicosar. But short of Celes, everyone else looks like a baby fighting an adult.
I had expected that. But it's a little worse than I imagined. Tjenemit has grabbed Tanja at her neck and is shaking her like a light doll. Others are trying to get up again after they were obviously beaten down.
Tjenemit seems to be disturbed. It has to be shocking if mere mortals, who should be nothing more than insects, suddenly put up a fight.
Using the distraction I teleport directly in front of Tjenemit and touch his chest with the tip of my staff. A blinding flash of light erupts and the Council member is send straight down to the earth like being hit by something far more powerful.
I grab Tanja at her foot before she can fall too. “Are you still alive?”
“... Yes …. my king. Though I don't feel that good.” She nods.
“Then retreat and try to lessen the damage to this world with the others. Put up a shield and shut me and Tjenemit inside. I don't want him to get away.” I let go of her and teleport down to Tjenemit.
Celes appears beside me while a big shimmering bubble appears around us and Tjenemit. It has a diameter of roughly fifty meters. Multiple people join Tanja in her efforts and new arrivals join in as they arrive at the scene.
Tjenemit gets to his feet. His chest is visibly dent in where I touched him with my staff. “How is this possible. Do you know what you are doing!? You are resisting the Council!”
“The Council has nothing to say on this world. Here, I am the ruler.” I inform him of the circumstances and he turns red.
“You will suffer! We will crush this rebellion and seal you all away.” He lashes out at me but I counter with my staff. Waving it, the surge of energy is dispelled like a stick would destroy a spiders web.
He looks at me agape. “I like that thing. Could you lend it to me for a second honey?” Celes tugs at my sleeve with a strange expression in her face.
“Um. Be careful with it. I can't replace it.” I reluctantly give her my staff. That expression was really scary.
“Don't ignooreeee meeeee!” Tjenemit screams with rage and jumps at us but Celes jumps towards him, wielding the staff like a club.
The following fight …. ahem.... the following beating was ….. thoroughly done. After half an hour I had the honour to witness a Council member crying like a little child.
I doubt that a single bone in his body was bigger than the nail of my thumb by now. Celes somehow managed to avoid killing him while she …. punished.... him.
The shield to contain our power flickered multiple times during that time. Once I even feared that it would break. All the people outside could hear only screams of pure pain and terror!
After even the low whimpering of Tjenemit subsided, she came back to me and pressed the bloody staff into my hand. “Thank you honey, I hope I can borrow it again if I should need it.”
“Ahem..... sure?” I am not certain if I should give it to her again.
It was easy to collect Tjenemit's soul afterwards. There wasn't much of him left after all. I sealed him inside my staff for the time being.
Later I would have enough time to interrogate him. Maybe I would let him resurrect again after a thorough deletion of his memories.
After a while the shield fell and we were welcomed by a mass of people.... or gods I should say? Apparently everyone rushed here as soon as they overcame the shock of getting their powers and memories back.
After a short talk with Arthur, Nicosar and Tanja I could settle down a bit. To my great relief, nobody was really changed by his new... or old memories. They were still the same people I knew before.
From their explanation, accessing the old memories was like remembering a movie. They didn't feel like they were your own. I guess it will still take a long time for everyone to settle down.
This will surely have a big effect on society too. I don't even want to imagine the consequences. After Arthur and Nicosar had ordered some volunteers to clean up the mess in the north, we went back to Midpoint. Teleporting around the world wasn't a huge issue for anyone any more.
Ireth and Rose stayed back in our summer residence in Midpoint. The palace was still in ruins. As we approached the door, it flew open and Ireth stormed out with tears in her eyes.
“Help Meeeee! He is asking so many questions and I don't know how to answer them myself!” She shoves Aengus into our faces.
I can feel a mental connection being build up and a stream of questions hammers down on me.
-Mommy! Daddy! Good you are home! Grandmother is a little overtaxed at the moment. Can you explain all those weird dreams to me? I remember a weird blonde hottie helping me to escape from some old farts after I refused to become a god. And why are you looking at me like that? Mommy, I am hungry! And Daddy, can I play that funny game with the red dots again!?-
"....."
55 - Between father and son?
We are inside our summer residence and Celes is holding Aengus with a distressed expression. Just imagine how you would feel if your two week old baby would suddenly start to talk in your mind.
No wonder Ireth
freaked out!
“So.... who do we have here?” I ask Aengus with a forced smile. At least I have to try to keep my calm. If I don't like his personality, I will wipe his mind and that's it!
-I just woke up and had all that knowledge about language and other stuff that's common sense. Then I had those dreams. I was always a hero in shining armour and I would help the weak and save the innocent. It felt like I was doing that over many different lifetimes, always choosing a righteous path.-
“Hm... So you don't actually remember who you really are Aengus?” I ask him the most important question. I am a little concerned about his mental health. A little baby shouldn't have all that knowledge. It's different if the baby has a complete personality to boot with. But Aengus seems a little incomplete. He didn't have his own personality and his brain just suddenly got stuffed with enough knowledge about mind-magic to use telepathy.
-Actually I don't really remember who I am. It's all a little blurry. The only thing I remember clearly is that I was just banishing some evil demons from my plain, when a blinding light suddenly pulled me forcefully away. Then I was inside a magic circle and some people told me that I had to join the ranks of gods.-
I nod and signal him to explain further. Without the whole story it will be hard to judge the situation.
-They even went as far as to give me working instructions for this new.... appointment. They didn't even ask for my opinion. I never wanted such a great responsibility on my shoulders. I think I was fine with just wandering the world in my current reincarnation and helping people in trouble.-
-I always thought that's my destiny for which I could remember my past life. While these Council people were talking about more and more pretty heavy stuff, I freaked out and made a run for it. But even by travelling between worlds, I couldn't shake them off.-
-They even threatened me with being sealed forever inside a black hole. They are nuts if you ask me. When I was about to give up a blonde beauty appeared and offered to save me from them. It was connected with a hefty price, but it sounded better than the black hole. So I accepted.-
-The next moment I wake up from that dream and a demon smiles into my face!-
I sigh and close my eyes. “That demon is your grandmother. And if you ever call her a demon again, you will wish you were never born.”
From what I heard from him, it seems like he was a newborn god. A soul which just transcended from a normal cycle of reincarnation to godhood. The council became aware of him and tried to enlist him. The normal procedure like it happened to me too. You get summoned, intimidated and the ordered to work for them.
-I gathered that myself after I thought over my experiences as a baby. Say dad! Was I really reborn as a demon? But after I see you and mom I guess that question is void.-
“We aren't demons. This world is a little different from your previous ones. Everyone on this world is a god. We are opposed to the Council and you could say that we are at war with them.” -Celes
-So that's why you came back in shining armour! Are you some kind of high ranking warriors?-
“Kukuku. Nothing of the sort. We are the king and the queen of this whole world. So you are the prince.” Celes smiles with a proud face.
-...-
“Thinking about running?” I ask Aengus and smile at him with a devilish grin.
-It's hard to believe that you are not a demon if you look at me like that.....-
Aengus has now a complicated expression. You can tell even though he has just a baby-face.
“Returning to the question of what to do with you. To be honest, I am concerned about your mental health. It must be pretty hard to cope with those dreams without a stabilised personality. I am thinking about deleting or sealing your memories.” I explain the situation to Aengus with a firm voice.
-You can do that? ….. To be honest I am afraid of dying. Wouldn't the deletion of my memories kill my current personality? Couldn't you just seal those dreams away? To be honest most of them are pretty disturbing anyway.-
I cock my head while I think about that possibility. It would be the least I would do.
-And if I understood the situation correctly. Wouldn't I be hampered compared to others of my age on this world? Haven't all babies gotten back their memories?-
I massage my temples while I think about it. Great work Seria! You created a complete chaos for society. Talking babies, workers and serves who suddenly are gods and who could smite cities with a thought. A wonder it didn't already deteriorate into civil war again.
“I have so much other stuff to do. For the moment I will go with this solution. It is at least not permanent like a memory reset.” I press a thumb onto Aengus's forehead and concentrate on his soul.
It is in more turmoil than someone would imagine from talking to him. So it takes me quite a while to sort his memories and seal them. It helps that he relaxes during the process. After a few minutes I am done. “How do you feel now.”
-Not much differently. So no more weird dreams?-
“No.”
-Thank you daddy, I guess?-
Suddenly Rose enters the room. “Ahem. My king there are some documents, you have to sign. We need to rebuild the palace!” She waves a package of documents at me.
The palace? …. OF COURSE! “THE PALACE!” I scream and Aengus twitches at my outburst. I teleport to the ruins of the old palace.
A few people are trying to save valuables from the rubble, but I shoo them away. I just got the area free of people when Celes arrives with Aengus and Rose.
“What are you thinking, just teleporting off!” She snaps at me.
“Oh, sorry! But I almost forgot that the new palace should arrive any minute now!” I inform them while I already start to clean up the area of the old palace, flattening everything with telekinesis.
It's no great deal with my newly regained powers. The area just has the size of a few football fields. That's nothing compared to crushing a mountain. The process is progressing quick and without problems.
“New palace?” -Celes
“Arrive?” -Rose
“Yes you see I remembered one of my projects when you told me that this is our old world. So I went down to the planets core and ordered it to rise to the surface.” I smile at them while the earth starts to shake. It's not really an earthquake, just a mild vibrating sensation.
“The core?” -Rose
“You ordered it?” -Celes
“Off to the side! We have to get out of the way!” I lead them out of the area.
Just in this moment a spike made out of crystal stabs through the ground and starts to rise higher and higher. The ground is penetrated at several other positions by other spikes too. They grow to the size of a house, then they start to resemble towers.
Suddenly the whole area opens up and a huge shimmering structure out of crystal rises out of the ground. “Mwahaha! Behold! My greatest technological masterpiece! Worthy of the gods! I call it the Eternal Palace. Originally I just wanted to use it as my mobile research lab, but I guess it is grand enough to serve as a palace too.
After two minutes the structure stops to rise and the ground stops shaking. A sudden pulse of power shakes off the dirt and the whole building gives off a satisfied hum as if it was pleased to have accomplished its task.
The sunlight is broken in the diamond-like surface and the building shines in all spectral colours. Satisfied I nod and grin at Rose and Celes, who are looking agape at the new palace.