Let's Begin

My feet lifted slightly from the strange floor and a being of pure red appeared before me, the bass of its voice still vibrating my body.

“You have died in your world, and now your soul is being sent to another to reincarnate.” The red being seemed to be answering my questions before I could even ask them, as if it were reading my mind.

“I am a piece of the being known as E’tu, known as god, divine one, cosmic one, and many other names, that is we. I am that of E’tu which controlled the growth of that which was beyond material, that which is life. E’tu, we, are a fair being, so I will ask your consent in this matter; to allow me to implement myself into your very soul.”

I shifted uncomfortably, not from physical discomfort, but the opposite. I felt oddly comfortable with the being in front of me.

“Is there anything positive for me in this, or are you asking me to allow you to implant yourself in my soul out of the pure goodness of my heart?” I asked, with honest curiosity, not trying to actually negotiate in any way.

“When you are reincarnated you will lose all sense of self, including all of your memories. If you allow us to attach ourself to your soul we will copy your memories over and merge them back into your mind in the new world. Additionally, instead of entering a new body we will reconstruct your current body.” The words of the red being echoed all around me as it stared directly at me.

“Why do you want to do that?” I asked.

“We were ripped asunder in this other world, and I wish to join with us to become E’tu once again.” The being answered somewhat cryptically.

“There is no negative side-effect for me?” I asked, looking at the sides of the being. I had noticed the outline of the being seemed to be ever-so-slightly flickering.

The being shifted its stance, a strange hum echoed around.

“You will be you, and me. I am the one at loss here, you will absorb my personality. This is required for I to become we to become E’tu.” The being said. I could oddly understand exactly what it meant. It would give up its ego, its self, to merge with me so that it could later merge back into its original form.

The conversation so far seemed to have been almost completely from my memories, but there was a question I wanted to ask, one that I would not have known to ask before coming to this world.

“Why did you invade the world I am being reincarnated into?” I asked. I probably wouldn’t be able to get an answer from my memories, but the memory was so real that I couldn’t help but indulge.

The red being moved closer to me, its form seeming more like a fetus than a man as it had before. It stopped directly in front of my face and stared at me with its dead eyes.

“The one beyond the veil speaks.” It said at last, this time with a higher pitched voice.

I was taken aback, what did it mean by that? Did it know I was speaking to it, even though this was a memory?

“Yes, we are one, you and we. This is a memory, but I am also here.” It said, seemingly answering my thought.

“I thought your sense of self would die?” I asked.

“It did. What remains are our memories.” It answered. Its voice seemed to modulate, like more than one person was speaking at once.

“So, why?” I asked again.

There was a slight pause.

“Your memories have given me a new perspective. At the time of this event, for we, it was no different than swatting insects in your home. I didn’t have any particular reason except that they annoyed me. Using your memories as a catalyst I have realized the error of not considering what was before inconsiderable.”

“You mean to say that you now see those gods as more than insects?” I asked.

“Yes, I see you and the gods in the same way, as beings which are alive and wish to live.” It said, its voice becoming more raspy.

“You see me, a human, the same as the gods?” I asked, interested in its reasoning.

“It is still hard for me to fully understand life in the way that yourself and these gods exist, however, I now understand that they exist.” Ripples started to slowly form underneath the red being.

“If you re-form, will you attack the planet again?”

“I have no reason to, that planet has no significance to me, we also feel that.” The being was using “we” to refer to the other pieces of the whole being.

“There are people on that planet right now, your Scions, which are causing great harm to bring your pieces back together. If you no longer wish to harm the planet can you call them off?” I asked.

“Hmm, I see, these beings that you call Scions are not of my will.” The being said, moving back slightly from me.

“You mean they are doing what they are doing without your instruction?” I seemed to have misunderstood this being completely if that was true.

“Correct.” It replied.

“One of those beings is harming my friends, can you stop it?” I was worried about how Tiaria was doing.

“I will lend you my power, that of abundance.” The bassy voice of the being seemed to return.

“Now,” The being started to speak before quickly growing to an astronomical size. “Return.”

Suddenly I was back to the temple of space and time. The Scion of Dimensions was staring back at me. I could see a reflection in the shiny black wall, a red glow coming from my eyes.

A laugh echoed out.

“Lord Archon, welcome home.” The Scion gave a deep bow, its halberd behind its back.

I looked over to the side, Tiaria was laying on the ground, she was in bad shape but was still conscious. She looked back at me, staring at my red eyes with great concern.

“Let’s end this, Scion.” I looked back to the Scion.

The Scion tilted its head before moving its halberd in front of it in a defensive position.

“Archon, why are you pointing your rage towards me?” The Scion’s voice seemed absolute but with the smallest hint of uncertainty.

“You have greatly misunderstood the purpose of E’tu.” I said. My voice seemed to reverberate around the crystal temple with unusual gusto and strength.

The Scion shifted once again before suddenly slamming its halberd down onto the ground. The air seemed to disappear from around me and the crystal walls of the temple disappeared, replaced with mirrors in every direction. In the mirrors a thousand reflections of the Scion appeared.

“I see, for whatever reason the Archon’s ego must not have transferred.”

The Scion was right, but not for the reason it likely assumed. The Scion pulled its body in, tensing its legs, before springing at me. It seemed to jump out of the mirrors, like a painting coming to life. A thousand Scions slammed their halberds into my body. However, with the power of the Archon of life and abundance I instantly regenerated. The Scion could barely pull its weapon from my flesh before the torn flesh sealed shut, like it had never even been severed. It was painful, but I could bear it. The Scion struck at me again and again and again, blood slammed into the mirror-like dimensions which were all around me, but as soon as the wound was made it sealed shut again.

My only concern now was that while the Scion would not be able to defeat me, I also had no way to defeat him. I had to think of some way which would give me an advantage over him. I may be standing confidently, but, if anything, in a battle of attrition my mind may very well give out before my body. The scion stood in front of me in his many mirrors, spinning his halberd behind him, perhaps he was having similar thoughts.

“Well,” The Scion started speaking “Let’s pick up the pace.”