A feeling of calm surety settled over Alan's soul. As the sphere began to hum with raw power, he could feel the presence of an inconceivably powerful being studying him closely, and curiously. Scrutinizing each and every one of his cells. And while he instinctively knew that who, or whatever this was he felt could surely snuff him out like a candle, he was just as confident that it wouldn't. This presence exuded the love and unending patience Alan had only ever felt from his mother. It was a feeling he had unknowingly longed for. Every molecule of his body hummed, resonating with the matronly aura.
Alan arched his back as a cool breeze blew through the fabric of his being. He gasped out as he felt it invigorating every last fragment of his soul. He gripped Su'ong's hand right as space itself shattered like a dark pane of glass, and fell away. His entire existence became the feeling of Su'ong's scaly hand clutched tightly in his own, and a blurry amber light.
What's going on? Where are we?! Alan wondered, as their bodies were propelled through the light at impossible speeds. For a moment, everything ceased to have meaning, and Alan simply became the light.
When color returned to the world, Alan had no idea where he was, though could once again feel solid ground beneath him.
He hesitantly opened his eyes and saw that the floor he now laid upon, as well as the massive dome surrounding him seemed to be made of some sort of cool-to-the-touch purple metal. The silence within the chamber was so compete, he could hear the weak flutters of Su'ong's failing heart beat. The feeling of warmth and contentedness seemed to be radiating throughout the atmosphere, urging him to remain at ease. A nudge on his hand interrupted his introspection. He looked down to see his fingers had been gently knocked away from Su'ong's hand when an orange barrier materialized around her unconscious form.
Alan tried to reach through the semi-translucent dome to grasp her hand, but he may as well have been trying to push his fingers through a diamond. Growing aggravated at his inability to get to Su'ong, but unwilling to further injure her in a fit of childish anger, Alan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in contemplation. Admittedly it wasn't easy for him to accept, but without using force, he knew he was simply not going to be able to penetrate the barrier.
You need to calm the fuck down dude…Alan chided himself, It was your own stupidity that got us into this mess in the first place…
Though he didn't want to see the ruination of her lower half, he needed to know if Su'ong was healing. Can the System even fix her? Alan wondered sadly, as he stared down at his arm. Knowing that he was unable to regrow a single limb didn't bode well for her chances. He felt the likelihood of regrowing half of her body was going to be a long-shot at best.
Alan had a good idea that (F-Stage) beings most likely possessed healing abilities that surpassed his own by a large margin, but still, doubt clouded his features. He steeled his resolve and moved his eyes to her waist and was greeted with a horrific sight. Her aquamarine scales abruptly ended, only to be replaced by torn flesh, and mutilated organs.
Though it was a disturbing sight, he was relieved to see that Su'ong had at least stopped bleeding. At some point, a circular disc of some sort had formed around her wound, and was now keeping her insides from becoming outsides. But any relief he felt was short-lived when all it took was a glance at his Party tab to see she wasn't healing. Her health was at eighteen percent and slowly falling.
As he stared down at Su'ong, there was nothing he could do to stop a writhing cluster of electric-blue roots from breaking through the metallic floor. Alan cried out in horror when they shot into her gaping wound, passing right through the shimmering bandage-like disc. When the roots began to pump an orange fluid into her body, Alan's first instinct was to lash out, to shatter that blasted barrier and get her out of there.
But when her color visibly began to improve, Alan watched on with a determined gaze. If it was going to help to stabilize her wounds, he was fine with standing back and letting the vibrantly colored vines do their work. But he kept a watchful eye on her Stats.
I don't think that plant is trying to harm her... But. I will crush this barrier, tear that root out, and scorch it to cinders if I have to.
“That won't be necessary. You foolish, impatient child.“
Alan swung his head around, searching for the extremely old woman he assumed was speaking to him, but no matter where he looked, there was no one other than himself and Su'ong.
“Hello Alan Robbins. I'm right here!“ A squeaky, high-pitched voice rang out right next to him.
Alan stumbled back a step, his knees quivering.
Not only had her voice changed dramatically, but so had her assumed age. Instead of the ancient old crone he was expecting, he couldn't help from being startled to find a grinning, 5 or 6 year old girl sitting cross legged at his feet. Her pinched face was looking up at him innocently. When she brushed her long brown hair out of the way, the sight of her face stopped his heart mid-beat. What he was seeing simply couldn't be possible.
“Clarice?..how? No...no, I'm sorry.“ Alan shook his head sadly. While there were striking similarities, the blazing orange eyes peering back at him we're not those of his long-dead sister. He wasn't sure how he knew, but there was no doubt in his mind. No matter what it appeared, this was no mere child sitting carelessly before him. It was Gaea herself.
The Goddess in child-form hopped up off the floor and ran her hands down the front of her short-legged overalls. “This is admittedly a form that I based entirely on some of your memories, but no. I am not her.“ The child said, “But I am pleased to see you've begun to remember the truth.“
The sheer pressure radiating off of her was like nothing he'd ever imagined possible. Before this presence, the Earth Wyrm's ferocity would be little more than that of a common garden worm. While currently Gaea's aura was reassuring, and suprisingly pleasant, he was nonetheless sure that if she wished it to be so, his body would be emptied out like an old toothpaste container. With a casual thoughts, she could squash him flat using nothing more than her domineering spirit.
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Suddenly finding himself standing before a Goddess, Alan was unsure what to do. Let alone say.
Am I even allowed to speak? Alan was so far out of his league that he decided his best option was to keep his mouth shut. At least for the time being.
“Our time together is already growing short,” she said, her cheery demeanor replaced by a look of seriousness that Alan couldn't help but find adorable. “I am already overstepping my boundaries by bringing you here. But you need my help, and I will soon require your's as well.“ She paused her speech, and studied Alan intently from head to toe.
“My, but it has been ages since I last spoke to one of your kind…I wonder. If I asked you to explain what my aura feels like to you, using only a single word, what would your answer be? Hmmm??“ She hesitated for a moment, a strained look on her face. “…And there is no wrong answer, so long as you are honest with me.“
For a moment, Alan wasn't sure what to say. She said there was no wrong answer, that all she requested was honesty. But if he was being honest with himself, he was too embarrassed to answer. Do I honestly tell her she feels like home?!
“Come on child! Use your words!“ Gaea said with a grin “Or word, if you want to be technical, but hurry now! Spit it out!“
“Well,” Alan said, pushing aside his nervousness. “It's hard to explain…but.“ He tried to ignore the fact that his knees were now quaking. He was sure it would be within proper etiquette to bow when addressing a Goddess, and he tried to will himself to do so. Yet it was like his spine now had a mind of its own. As if it were a solid rod of steel, his back refused to bend.
A red and twitching face, and strained grunts were the only results that came from his efforts to prostrate himself before Gaea. Whatthefuck!! I..I can't…move!
With an amused look on her face, Gaea shook her head slowly. “Let me make myself completely clear Alan. I will brook no more of that prostration nonsense.“ All traces of humor drained from her face as she spoke. “I get too much of that nonsense from my sect heads as it is.“
“You have already said your thanks boy, for which I am appreciative.“ She said slowly, allowing time for each word to sink in. “But even that was unnecessary. I do not require thanks. I do what I must for the sake of maintaining the hollow shell of peace we currently have in the Multiverse.“ A brief look of sadness crossed her face, but was replaced by a cheery smile just as quickly.
“But those are matters for another day. One in which we aren't so pressed for time. You realistically have enough to contend with as it is,“ she frowned and looked off to the side. “The Human Tutorials are only going to get harder. It is going be excessively unkind to you my child. Humans as a whole were not meant to survive the 10 Year Ban.“
Her frown turned into a viper's toothy grin. “But you survived anyways didn't you. For over nine years you survived on the surface of Earth, and another ten years in the Guadalupe River Dungeon. And there were more! Not many of you, I will admit. Yet still, despite all the odds being stacked against you, Humanity did as it was designed to do. It found a way.“
Gaea folded her tiny arms and shifted from leg to leg uncomfortably. “Things are only going to get much worse… This Tutorial is their last opportunity to smother the dying embers of humanity before you can make it back to Terra…” Gaea spat at the floor and stomped her little legs in a display of childish displeasure.
“Blech…” She stuck out her tiny pink tongue and wiped it on the sleeve of her plain blue shirt. “I do NOT find that word to be palatable. Earth, Alan, the majority of the Multiverse would prefer it if not a single human made it back to Earth. Their plans for your world necessitate the utter destruction of your kind. And if nothing is done to even the scales, they are going to be successful. There are countless beings keeping tabs on this Tutorial in particular Alan, and the vast majority of them would like nothing more than to see you, along with every other Human, perish in the worst of ways.
“W..what do you mean? Alan stammered, his anxiety over her words forcing him to speak up. “Can it really get that much worse? I mean. Things haven't exactly been going great as it is...and what's with the blatant racism? Or speciesism? What did Humanity ever do to deserve all of this?
Gaea stared deeply into Alan's eyes, as if searching for for something hidden away. After several moments, she finally spoke. “I am sorry Alan, but until you pass the Tutorial, and earn the Title 'Citizen of the Multiverse', even I am unable to give you the information you deserve to know. When I gave you [Gaea's Tempest], I wove a failsafe into the foundation of the Spell. One that would send you to me the first time you used it.“ She huffed out an irritated breath.
“How was I supposed to know you would wait so long?! And bring a half-dead Naga along for the ride no less??“ Gaea asked with a pouting face. “Now Alan, back to the topic at hand. Now that you've had a chance to acclimate, what feeling does my aura most inspire within your soul? One word only!“
Alan didn't even need to think about what answer he would give. Embarrassing or not, there was only one true answer to her question. “Honestly, being in this place feels like I've finally come home…” He lowered his eyes as his face turned red.
“Hahaha, So it's like that huh?“ Gaea said, her high-pitched laughter full of relief. “Even after so many eon's…isn't that something!“ She stopped to wipe her face.
Alan was shocked to see that she had begun to leak tears of joy.
“I hope I'm not out of line here,” Alan said hesitantly, "But what's going to happen to Su'ong? Please…please help her Gaea. Or if not you, please tell me who can.“ Again Alan tried to bow, and again he failed spectacularly.
“Who?“ Gaea asked absentmindedly, before answering herself. “Ah yes, your attractive little Snake-Kin! It's very unfortunate the situation she's found herself within..if only we could help her...“
Gaea fixed Alan in her piercing orange gaze. “Right now, I'm doing what I can to keep her from dying. She can technically be saved Alan, but it will be costly, and not without risks of its own. Currently, I am doing my best to get her stabilized, and ready for the process should you agree to proceed. However, she will still require at least twenty more minutes.“ She looked over to the left.
“But first, allow me to officially welcome you to my humble Spiritual Realm!“ Gaea said, her voice full of barely restrained excitement. “It's been over twenty-thousand years since last a human laid eyes on these sights!!
“Bah, but you don't have time for an old woman's sentimentality. I'm already pushing up against the deadline."
Without another word, she gestured at the purple dome enclosing them, and the walls began to move, silently opening up along hidden seams. As the obstruction to Alan's view fell away, the world was revealed anew. He failed to stifle a gasp when hot with the realization that he was actually standing in the center of a single, enormous, purple flower. And guessing by the way the light glinted off its surface, the entire thing was made out of metal.
Now that Gaea had allowed the flower the privilege of blooming, he was witness to a vibrant new landscape. One that was obviously not based on the logic of his own home world. His eyes widened in shock as they swept across Gaea's Spiritual Realm.
Mother of the Earthly Realms indeed! Alan thought, his brain struggling to comprehend the wondrous vision laid out before him. It was an entire world of living minerals.
Everything within sight was made entirely from metal and gemstones. Even the sky. A shiver ran down Alan's spine when he realized what that meant.
The entire Realm was hidden away inside of a world-sized chunk of cut and polished amber.