Chapter 559: Conditions


    Piece by piece, like water down the drain, the picturesquendscape faded into nothingness. White smoke marked the end of multiple scattered pieces. An undone puzzle, a world of confusion and fear. Origin stood strong beside Igna, both held hands, the bodies closer than before. A blinding light carried on into reality; the crushing sensation stopped.


    Dark and vile, as multiple nights had been, the harbinger of the worst deeds humanly performed. Dagger to her neck, “-Hey, don’t squirm so much, I’m not as gentle as you’d think.”


    “Let me go,” the nauseating sound subconsciously forced her to sneak nces at Igna. ‘Wake up...’ thought she – what had been a body was naught but a pile of sludge. Not bone from blood, not organs from the skin, nothing... a blob and that was it.


    “You see now,” said he, “-it’s not worth resisting. Besides,” throwing a nce at Totrya, “-they told me to test the inheritor. Might have taken it a bit far. If the man couldn’t handle my powers, then it’s done for. I’ll take my prize and leave.”


    “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING,” backed to embrace the tree trunk, the visage slumped, the bravado of rushing adrenaline channeled into fear, in and simple.


    “There’s nowhere to run,” said he drawing a magical circle, “-I’lly im to thee and thy soul, be my servant for the rest of eternity.”


    ‘Igna...someone, save me.’


    .....


    From the genesis to the eventual restart; else referred to as the end, the never-ending cycle of creation and destruction; merging with Origin shattered the already cracked Death Element. The consciousness, memories, soul, and his very existence, the memories living in other people, all were subject to tension, a slight miscalction could rupture everything. Still, ambling down the tunnel, Igna found himself holding hands with another entity. No thoughts crossed the mind, not the ulterior motive – subconscious left alone and unsupervised. The vortex assaulted the defenseless consciousness to a multitude of attacks, emotions, possible futures, and many more. Origin kept on walking, hand in hand, guiding the self-proimed idiot down the path of ultimate trial.


    “Wee to the kiosk of all.”


    “Kiosk?” asked he in a drunken stupor.


    “Wake up,” cried Origin.


    “My head,” a yelp forced him onto the ground, ‘-where am I?’ looking back, nothing was visible, there was something there, then again, there was not. The eyes didn’t see yet it was present. Suddenly, when the eyes could see, he couldn’t sense. “What is this ce?” the head boomed at a regr interval – a feeling closely associated with standing in the middle of a giant bell and having it be hit.


    “Difficult to exin,” said he looking down an upward shaft, “-look here.”


    “I’m looking, what is it?”


    “Origin,” smiled he.


    “That’s you?”


    “Yes, it’s taken the form I wished it to take. Normally, there’s just nothing. You’ve experienced it – looking back to see something than not, tis the same amplified. We’re at the start and end of all. Many deities have tried to reach this level of power, the true ascension, I’m sure Zeus wants to do the same.”


    “Interesting,” he sat with legs dangling off the edge, “-I mean, why show me this. I’m going to vanish anyway,” ncing backward, “-see, my body is at the start; figments of myself are stuck in the tunnel – reminds me of a filter.”


    “Yes, that’s right,” said he giving in to the natural charm, “-it’s a filter. We came here for a purpose, I epted the offer, though, my conditions haven’t been met yet.”


    He nodded and expressed the will to listen closely. This feeling of being wanted had him startled a little, “-excuse me,” he coughed. “-To put it simply, you’re now the purest form of yourself, the soul, and your very existence. Here is where we merge.” The other Igna’s were the manifestation of the Death-Element, dormant powers, Blood-Arts, and countless hidden traits all separated and held in cages. Some vtile and some docile, everything made sense, or so he thought.


    “I know, I know. Shall we get this started; I’ve already bid my farewells.”


    “Wrong,” said Origin sprawling on his feet, “-my conditions are as follows. We’re to be one, and to that end, I want you as my ally, my friend, my everything. Do you hear, heir to death, no, never mind, right at this moment, you’re nothing but Staxius Haggard. A soul in the sea of eternity, a nonconsequential nt in a forest.”


    “Listen,” interjected he, “-what good will it do, hearing all of this?”


    “Don’t you realize, I’m offering another deal for us to be the same.”


    “Wasn’t it the same as the first time?”


    “No,” the head shook, “-not at all, what you offered was for me to take over YOUR body and mind. What I propose is that we both be one.”


    “An alter-ego?” asked he perplexed at the preposterous offer, then again, the whole thing was absurd as is.


    “More than an alter-ego, something better,” paused at a heightened pitch, “-sorry, got carried away. Staxius, thou said to trust in thee. I ask the same, trust in me.”


    “Honestly,” he paused, “-I had made amends in leaving everything up to Origin. Looks like there’s more toe. Go on then, do as thee wishes.”


    “Good,” he jumped in to hold hands, “-thou epted me and my burdens. Igna, let me tell you, the weight I carry is more than one could ever hope to imagine. Things might not be the same when we return, I’ve said it before, I can’t increase your strength, that is something you’ll have to do on your own. My goal is simple, to experience everything, to stop the boredom, and to see what is there for me to see.”


    “What will I lose in the process?” asked he.


    “My consciousness will take up a lot of space. You need not worry, tis been settled. We’re to join as one,” both figures merged, the tunnel seemed to move in reverse. Soul pulled to join with the other figments, one after another, the vision blurred, the vortex spiraled to engrave onto the side of his right hand.


    ‘The pain, the suffering, fleeting moments of bliss, what a troublesome life he’s led. He survived bonding to me, we’re now the same – sharing memories, I don’t have any personality so it shouldn’t affect much. It’s true, that soul of his is close to a miracle, haven’t seen anything like it before. Being able to hold an unlimited number of symbols of power – he’s handling my symbol for what it’s worth. There’s no name to describe such a being. The death elements healed, we’re back to reality. Time to wake up, Igna.’


    “Time to collect my payment,” smirked the Butler.


    Over the wall rose smoke and ambers of a rising me. Sounds and cries barely made it to where they stood. ‘It’s happened,’ the body rose in from the sludge, healing itself at a faster rate, ‘-I’m back. The memories of Origin, I know, I see,’ the skin grew pale, the crimson eye turned vibrant like a crystal inside which one could see the whole of eternity. The disrupted vampiric transformation returned to the norm, ck hair, the skin darkened in color, he stood the same as before with exception to the eye color.


    “Quite a troubled past,” said a voice.


    “Is this the alter-ego you referred about?”


    “Yeah,” said it smugly, “-you’ve seen my memories. I don’t know what you had to give up to assimte me, should be fine, I don’t sense anything amiss.”


    “Well,” he stood unknown to the butler, “-one thing is for sure.” *Blood-Arts: Extria,* “-I feel stronger than before.” A simple gesture sent the demon flying. “-What was it about not having magical abilities and power?” he dashed after,nded a downward punch, plunged the butler deep into the ground, then skid to stop. The remaining trail was left to steam.


    “Well, I never said I was going to be useless. Besides,” a snapter, the consciousness swapped, “-I can take control whenever I want, and so can you. Heck,” another snap, “-we can share the same body at once.” In that transformation, when Origin took control, the pupils changed to pure white, when Igna was in control, tis red, and when both were one of the same, crimson and white.


    “It doesn’t feel weird,” said Igna, “-even when you’re in control, still feels like me, like I’m doing the things I want.”


    “That’s the beauty of it all,” said he proudly, “-we’re the same. A shared consciousness, meaning, everything I do is your doing, and everything you’re doing is mine.”


    “I see,” clutching the hands, ‘-I wonder what I gave up for this?’


    “You’re alive?” asked the Butler crawling from the crevasse, “-I thought I killed you.”


    “Yeah, I did so, honestly speaking,” he turned without care and held the demon by the neck, “-why... tell me why?”


    “A test, a test,” said he begging for life, “-Majesty, I did so per orders of the other demons.”


    “Other demons,” the grip lessened, “-so, what about them?”


    “They asked me to test you, the carnage here was nothing more than to provoke a reaction.”


    “A reaction, from all this death?” scanning the surrounding, ‘-should I not be angry at this... I don’t feel anything, why am I calm, what’s the matter. Look at Lingling, she’s injured, I should be angry, still, I don’t feel anything.’


    ‘I figured it out,’ said Origin swapping forth, ‘-you’ve lost your emotions to amodate me. Weirdly enough, once I’m at the forefront, I feel the anger and hate, all this destruction for the sake of provocation, it... it makes me b-boil.’


    ‘Alright then,’ they shared the body, ‘-if you can feel, its good enough. I can’t feel anything when I’m in control. Well, Origin, this is a good experience to learn. Feel what it’s like to be human. I’ll experience the emotions through our shared bond.’


    ‘Damn it,’ he gritted.


    ‘Alright, I’ll take over for now. Origin, emotions are a powerful asset. I’d say it pains me to have lost them... would have been a massive lie. It’s the same as before, I’ll slowly be a killing machine. Walking down the same path as I did. I envy you, being able to experience the finest details in life, romance, camaraderie, familiarity, all born from the emotions.’


    ‘Don’t be like that,’ said he, ‘-I can feel yours too. The regret, it hurts.’


    “Majesty,” gulped the demon, “-what now?”


    “I won the contest. Go back to Totrya, I’ll hold onto the singr wish for a better time, is that alright?”


    “Yes,” nodded he, “-thank you for the mercy, majesty.”


    ‘It’s not mercy, I just don’t care.’ The butler disappeared into the night. A gust blew hard and strong. Ling coward under the tree; stuck in terror, head between the knees, sobbing and waiting for death.


    “Ling,” said a monotonous voice, “-wake up, hey, this isn’t the ce to sleep.”


    “I-Igna?” the shell broke, “-it’s you,” tears flowed, “-I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE!”


    “Me too,” said he, “e on,” she jumped into his arms, “-we need to get back.”


    “Igna...”


    “Yes?”


    “W-why are you s-so calm?” she subconsciously backed away.


    “Oh, so you’ve noticed,” knelt to give a helping hand, “-the experience of seeing death in the face has scarred me for life. I can’t feel anything anymore. It’s the truth, I want to be angry at the carnage, but I can’t. Even now, I say this as if to justify myself. I know one thing is for sure, I’ve lost my humanity.”


    “You can’t be serious,” taking his hand, “-who cares. You saved me, that’s reason enough. Thank you, Igna.”


    “No thanks needed,” he stood, “-can you stand?”


    “Y-yeah, somewhat.” She mbered with the tree as support, a lonesome branch cracked after too much strain.


    “Careful,” wrapping his arms around her waist, “-don’t force yourself,e on,” in a quick motion, her head rested on his as was per a piggyback ride.


    The graduation turned horror; one could say he graduated. Not as an adventurer, but as a higher being. Someone harboring Origin itself for the price of his emotions. Some things were best left as is – Igna slowly made way to his prior self, Staxius. Who was he, the question remained. With another consciousness thrown in the mix, the world moves on into perhaps its darkest hour. A few people died, the pain seemed naught, ‘-I met Origin. Heir to Kronos, Scifer Rethem, I’vepleted the quest.’


    Gunfire and explosion grew by each step, ‘-this world is cruel. There are more things toe, thank you, Igna. I understand more than I would have. I can let go freely, my conditions have been met – good luck on the adventures ahead, dearest partner. I’ll take my rightful ce in the subconscious alongside thy emotions. Till the dayes where thee calls on me, goodbye.’