Xavier sat in front of the flickering fire, the flames playing with the shadows on the older man’s face across from him. The older man who wouldn’t tell him what had happened to bring him here.

Xavier wanted to argue, but a part of him saw the futility in that. There didn’t seem to be much point in arguing with himself. And if this man was as old as Xavier thought, that meant he was far, far more powerful than Xavier could even currently imagine.

“You’re not going to tell me what level and grade you are, are you?”

The other man only smiled faintly.

“What about Adranial, can I trust her? Can I trust her ancestor?”

The other man turned his head. Said nothing. The faint smile still on his lips.

“What do you want to tell me then!” Xavier wasn’t sure where the frustration came from. He hadn’t come to this floor expecting an interaction like this. He hadn’t known he would learn anything about his future. How could he have?

Why was he angry with this man—this man who was him?

The other Xavier sighed. “That anger isn’t going to help you, you know. It certainly won’t help you with me. You don’t intimidate me, Xavier. You know that. I wish that I could speak to you for hours, days. Wish that I could tell you all the wonderful and terrible things that have happened to me, that might very well happen to you in your future. I could warn you of so much, and make you excited for even more… but I don’t want to risk too much changing, only the important things.” He paused. “The one important thing.”

Xavier calmed himself. He took another sip of the coffee. God, it really was the best damned coffee that he’d ever drunk. He couldn’t be surprised that his future self would value coffee as much—if not more—than he did. Though he still couldn’t imagine spending that much on coffee, he liked that he would do so in the future.

Doesn’t sound so bad to be that rich.

But he was also worried. He couldn’t shake the chill that had come over him since he realised who this man was. It wasn’t a good sign, this. It wasn’t a nice, friendly chat. It was some kind of warning. And the man—himself—wasn’t even being straight with what kind of warning it was.

“So,” Xavier said, sipping the coffee. “The System isn’t what gives people power, only what facilitates it.”

“Indeed.”

“Were there planets out there with more Celestial Energy than Earth?”

“There were—we even had visits from some of them, from time to time, in history.” The other man shrugged. “At least, that’s the theory.” He touched a finger to his forehead. “There is also a… mental link that some people are able to access. A sort of universal knowledge that creative minds can tap into, one that helps us tell stories.” He raised an eyebrow. “Of magic, and elves, and gods…”

Xavier smiled. “Tolkien.”

“And others,” the other man said. “Many, many others.”

“You said the System wasn’t the entity that gave us levels and titles, only… helped to facilitate it. Are you saying there is another powerful entity out there that does give the Greater Universe those things?”

“The jury is still out on whether this power is an entity—a living being that has wants and needs. But yes, there is something else. Even I can’t explain what it is, and let me tell you, I’ve gone to great lengths to figure it out. And I’m not the first. There are those who have been around for billions of years who don’t understand it.”

“Adranial’s ancestor?” Xavier asked.

The other man didn’t nod or shake his head. Didn’t smile or say a word.

“Another thing you can’t tell me.”

“Now you’re getting the hang of it.” The other Xavier chuckled. He seemed to like doing that. Apparently, he was able to see the humour in things much better than the young Xavier could.

Perhaps that’s something that he could learn from… well, himself.

“Why do I need to know this?” Xavier asked. “I mean… I want to know this. It’s interesting. I’m certainly learning more from this interaction that I expected to learn when I came to this floor. I just thought I was going to gain a new spell.”

“Oh, you are going to learn a new spell. There’s no way I’m letting you leave without you learning it, either. So you can expect to stay here for a good while. Don’t worry, the others won’t be missing you too much. They’ll find that note you left.” He winked.

“Right,” Xavier said.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

“I’m telling you these things because the System… well, it was created.”

Xavier blinked. “Created? By what?”

The other man raised a finger. “Not by what, rather by whom.”

Xavier stared at the flames for a long moment, taking in what the man had said. He didn’t really see how it changed anything, to learn that the System had been created… but then again, in a way, it changed everything. “How could someone create something as powerful as the System?”

“Before the System, the feats that Denizens were able to perform were considerable. The power that they possessed was more raw and less focused. They didn’t have particular spells, but rather control over reality itself. It was an incredibly difficult thing for people to master. But master it they did.”

“Are you saying that the people who were around before the System’s creation were more powerful than what those under the System can become?” Xavier asked.

The other Xavier shook his head. “No. They wouldn’t have needed the System, if that were the case. But they could alter realities in ways you can only dream of.”

Xavier tipped his head up. “What about you?”

A faint smile appeared on the man’s lips. “What about me?”

“Can you alter reality in such ways?” Xavier’s back straightened. He tried not to look too eager to hear the answer.

“You’ll have to learn of that another time.”

Xavier’s forehead creased as he looked down and away from the man. He gazed into the flames. “The System has been around since the dawn of the universe. How could these people have created it?”

“The power that they possessed… it was too late for them so save their own universe. The System was something they devised of that would help in the long run, but that wouldn’t help them. Upon its creation, they sent it back in time, to the beginning. And so the System formed around the same time as the universe.”

“You’re saying these people were strong enough to travel through time?”

“There are several different ways to travel through time.” The other man motioned to the cave they were both sitting within. “In a way, you are travelling to another time and space. But everything that happens here does not directly affect your universe. The type of time travel these people possessed created alternate worlds with every use of it. It did not help their timeline.”

Xavier once again put his head in his hands. His head didn’t hurt, but his brain was being a little strained wrapping his head around everything. “All right. The System was created. Because they wanted to… save the universe? Or, at least, a universe?” He bit his lip. “What exactly were they trying to save it from?”

The other Xavier stared at him. There was a sadness in his eyes. A sadness he had seen before, but was all of a sudden more profound. The man blinked. Looked away. Stared at Xavier again. And, with a slight shrug of his shoulders, almost apologetically, he said, “The end.”

“The end? The end of what?”

The other Xavier opened his hands, extended his arms wide either side of him. “Of everything. The end of the universe. They saw it coming. They couldn’t stop it.”

Xavier looked away.

The end of the universe.

The System had been created to… combat the end of the universe? Entropy? Heat death? Last time he checked, that wasn’t something one fought.

Was it?

He said this to the other Xavier.

“I would have thought the same, but the end of the universe…” He trailed off. “I worry I am saying too much. I worry that it will hear. That it will stop me.” He glanced up at the ceiling. “It’s stopped me before.”

Xavier thought about everything the man had said. A conclusion was slowly forming within his mind. Something that seemed impossible, but what else seemed impossible that had happened lately? Here he was, talking to himself.

“Someone tries to end it,” Xavier said. “Someone… someone who could harness Celestial Energy before the System came. Someone you’re saying I’m going to have to fight. An enemy at the end of time—an enemy at the end of the universe.”

Xavier looked over at the older version of himself. The man didn’t just look sad, he looked tired. Xavier wondered, yet again, how old this version of himself actually was. As he stared at the man he was hoping for a denial. Hoping for him to tell him that he was wrong. That he was foolish for even thinking that way.

“Yes,” the other Xavier said. “Someone tries to end it. And they succeed. They succeed every single time, no matter what the System throws at it. No one has been strong enough to combat it—not in a near infinite number of universes.” His gaze flicked up. “We were supposed to be the one.” He shut his eyes. “I think we still can be. Just not… me.”

The weight of Earth had been on Xavier’s shoulders for some time now. Then, when he’d learnt of the threat, and Empress Larona’s reason for her interest in him, the weight of his sector had settled on his shoulders as well.

At first, the weight had been crushing, but it had pushed him forward. He was a better person. A better Denizen. A better Champion. Because of that pressure.

But how could the fate of everything, his entire universe, be on his shoulders? How could he do anything to actually stop something like that from happening?

His breathing turned shallow. He found himself drawing his knees up to his chest and hugging them in front of the flames.

He was in some sort of shock. He could tell that, logically, but he also didn’t care to do anything about it. His breathing was coming faster and faster. His heart raced, so hard it was beginning to hurt. His heart beating shouldn’t have hurt someone as powerful as himself. And yet, here he was.

A hand rested on his shoulder. Xavier didn’t push it off, though a part of him wanted to. There was already enough weight on his shoulders as it was, he couldn’t afford more.

“I’m sorry,” the other man said. “Perhaps this was a mistake. Perhaps I shouldn’t have told you all this. I just… I wanted to warn you. Wanted to help you.”

Xavier shut his eyes. He focused on his breathing. On meditating. It took longer than he expected, but finally, he got a hold of himself. His breathing slowed. His heartrate slowed. And his mind began to clear. “No,” Xavier said, opening his eyes again. “You have nothing to be sorry for. It was just… a shock.” He shook his head. “It still is.”

The other man nodded. He moved backward, sitting across from Xavier on the other side of the fire once more. “The System was created to combat… The cause of the end. It was designed to turn people into weapons. Was designed to help us use Mastery Points, Celestial Energy, all of it. It’s here to make us stronger. Every universe created is another scenario. Almost like… a computer running simulations, but those simulations are real, and they’re whole universes, and there are countless lives at stake, and ultimately, the lives of everyone at stake.

And this entire time, in every universe, the System has been looking for someone. Someone who can fight this. Someone who can win.”

“And you’re saying… It’s looking for us?”

The other Xavier shook his head. “Not us. But you, maybe.”