Chapter Two: Abducted, The Truth.
A flash of light and suddenly nothing.
No thoughts.
No Shadow.
No Waynev.
Then as suddenly as she was nothing, the world unravelled around her.
Her skin clear, clothes the same as they were before the fateful event.
"Wait..."
"Where am I ?" Waynev looked from the marble ceiling to the luxurious recently waxed wooden floorboards emanating wealth. Her eyes directly fell on a wall-mounted fish tank.
Yet instead of fish in the tank, she saw Bugs? Maybe reptiles? Confused at the weird-looking fish that had hooves and limbs, she looked to her right and noticed she was in a corner with a red fabric couch begging her, no compelling her to be sat on.
As Waynev sat down she thought to herself how weird it was for a couch to be in a corner next to the fishtank.
As if she wasn't just brought to this king-sized room after killing a man, then the second her back hit the couch; it suddenly moved this time instead of feeling like she got Thanos snapped, she felt a small burst of air assault her.
Was the couch teleported forward? In front of a man, no, what was that thing?
She shook her head in slight horror but mostly fascination as she took in the sight.
In front of Waynev was a man in halves, ordinary face, ordinary arms, and ordinary clothes and yet split in the middle of him looking like two people.
On the left side, a young man and his right mirrored the young man's standard features except appearing hundreds of years older. With eyes shining on Waynev, her own stares were noticed.
"Waynev." His voice compelled her to be entranced, to be lost in his eyes, to sit still in body and mind.
Even Shadow stopped and stared.
"There's one constant in your world, this world too. Nothing is balanced, all the philosophical sages, all the mages, common folk, and even newborns. From all species have and always will be unique, different, unequal."
"Imbalanced," he said, looking through her… but at what?
"People in your world knew me centuries ago, and maybe in a few centuries, they'll know me again. For now, you will call me Vein." Vein's tone grew strict after disclosing his name.
He looked at her again, and suddenly she felt relieved and able to talk.
Before having a chance, however, Shadow's voice cut over hers. "Where are we? What are you? What happened to Thomas was this a dream? is HE DEAD?" Her former silence now preferred over Vein’s raised eyebrows.
Vein flexed his decrepit and youthful arms on the luxurious chair handles and stood.
Slowly, almost painstakingly walked over to one of the few globes, his footsteps abnormally light despite his size. "Well Ms Melton, or is it Shadow?"
Clearing his throat with a deep rumble, he continued "That child is indeed dead and he also happens to be what made you ready, ready for Temporous.” His eyes relaxed for less than a second before continuing.
“You are currently with me in a pocket dimension beside Soumia, a world located in another rift than yours."
Vein picked up one of the smaller globes.
"Unlike your world, this one is only 4000 years old, and instead of it being naturally formed by millions of years of 'random' rock formations like some of you humans believe-"
He chuckled and put the small azure-tinted globe in front of Waynev.
"This world was formed by what you and other races call 'gods', although some technicalities are different between definitions of what a God is in your world. The general idea is the same." Vein's head swept aside to the half-dog half-seal at his feet.
Waynev's stare flickered between Vein and his pet.
Which was surprisingly cute.
"In this world a time distortion was recently performed." Vein looked up suddenly, strange lights dancing around his pupils.
"By me," His lips curved, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
Waynev’s eyes creased as she began considering what he was saying instead of letting it go in one ear and out the other.
"The inevitable is coming, and like many major threats to this world, the gods deal with them. But last time the distortion was used the newer Gods tried and failed to save Temporous."
"Wait, what about Soumia?" Shadow interrupted sharply, "I assumed Temporous was only one of the continents on Soumia, what else is there?" she ended in a contemplative tone.
"Very perceptive Shadow," Vein gave a small appreciative nod.
The normalcy despite what had just happened was jarring.
"On Soumia there are two continents, Temporous, and the Wastelands or Udux. However unlike your world, this one is around one and a half times as big as Earth's moon." Waynev’s brows rose with this knowledge as Vein continued his lips pulled back looking at the abstract painting behind his chair.
Her hands felt cold, as if still gripping the bloodied blade, the scent of iron came with it.
"Meaning not only is the world smaller but in this case, the continents are much bigger. Well one of them is, Udux is commonly known as the wasteland due to it being a battlefield for numerous [Gilded] individuals, wars between kingdoms and the go-"
Vein stopped himself rambling with a wave and turned back at Waynev.
"Waynev, no, Wayne if you don't mind me calling you that."
The smell of blood in the air ceased as she sniffed and smelt wood furnishings, her thoughts focused.
"I am the God of imbalance. Vein of life. Vein of death. Without veins, there is no movement. No flow." His voice lighter, he rose in his seat and the very veins on his arms pulsed slightly.
"Without an imbalance, there is no balance, and this imminent threat will destroy Soumia and in the process Temporous. That cannot happen… ***." His last word a whisper that Waynev missed.
"This is no accident, you were summoned because you are needed. A god needing a mortal may seem ludicrous, however, unlike your fictional Gods, we cannot simply act on our own. There are rules even we must follow." Vein’s voice died in his throat but his eyes burned, still directing their flame, their ire at Waynev.
Waynev felt overwhelmed, she looked down at the floorboards and whispered Shadow in her mind ‘Why is he asking us? We’re jus-’
"Just perfect." Vein claimed with an understanding look on his faces.
"The inevitable is coming, and the cost of me bringing you means no details can be shared, but none are needed. You may not know it yet or trust yourselves. But you two are more than needed to save Temporous."
Now she was freaking out.
Not only had she been teleported to another world but now she had to save it?
Minutes ago she had felt a dying man’s blood on her hand, her face.
Hell her whole body was covered in it.
She did it to escape and to redeem, but this?
This was crazy, how could she save a world all by herself?
Her heart beat furiously yet she could feel a cold sweat on her back, a sense of being cornered.
"Bu-" Barely able to squeak out the question Waynev tried to ask.
"No interrupting, leave questions until after I've finished,"
"This world isn't like your own, it still has methods of advancement and has more mana and magic than a thousand times over your old polluted world used to. Even when fairy tales you humans call them were real, your world still was behind.”
“Wayne this world, Soumia will allow you to succeed where others have failed not because of who you are now but because of what you will become." Vein ended with a swirl of his fingers. Two orbs flickered out, floating in the air towards Waynev.
Waynev immediately ducked as the two orbs went to each side of her head, seemingly missing their target before she felt an intense cold and hot feeling enter her neck from both the left and right side.
Then her arms, legs, chest all started tingling as if they were overexerted from a day of hard work.
Huffing and puffing with her face going red, Waynev tried to force oxygen down and slouched in exhaustion, the couch still beneath her, unable to fall from its soft protective reach until she heard a distant buzz.
"Wayne." She looked up to Vein with his palm facing her, the corners of his eyes crinkled.
"Close your eyes and feel the elements, Shadow's already far ahead and choosing her element."
“Remember, while others have their element assigned randomly at birth your’s is manufactured, chosen. It will be unique no matter your choice.” Vein's voice echoed in her head.
Like Shadow's except she could feel he wasn't welcome and if she desired, she knew she could force him out.
Wayne closed her eyes so she could control the giddy feeling of choosing her own personal magic.
She decided, out of curiosity, of course, to investigate this new magic and the power it brought.
A power that takes she suddenly thought, banishing it with instant guilt. How would she be different from Thomas if the first thing she wanted to do with her power was to use it to 'persuade' others, as he did?
"Wayne." Vein's voice stabilised her.
"Focus on the different aspects and choose what you feel is best. Remember, you can't change this choice later. The aspect will meld with your body and soul. Even I am unable to change your aspect once it's chosen. After you've chosen your aspect, another lesser aspect will meld with it, good luck and good picking." The voice trailing off the closer she got to the aspects.
The aspects were in the millions, appearing as stars before her but out of them, she saw a few from each of the different colours? No, of the various aspects that spoke to her personally, she saw words shine in their respective colour brightly in her mind.
Powers of the Mind:
* Telepathy:
Read other’s thoughts...
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
𝖉𝖉𝖉
⸮⸮⸮ ⸮⸮⸮ ⸮⸮⸮
* Precognition:
See a minute into the future...
ȥȥα
ггг єєє รรร
* Telekinesis:
Control foreign objects...
ຖຖ໓
۷ɛƈ ɬųཞ ŋơɱ
* Superintelligence:
Your mind works at double the speed...
๑۞๑
ђєɭ คєภ שยภ
Object Manipulation:
* Plantae:
Control plant growth...
չєภ
ﾚひの りひの 刀ひの
* Aqua:
Control water element...
Ʉ₦ł
ครՇ гคɭ ς๏๓
* Cedo:
Transmute chosen element…
VɆ₴
?̾?̾?̾ ̾?̾?̾?̾ ̾?̾?̾?̾
Force Control:
* Teleportation:
Teleport to a seen location...
ﾑ丂丂
ᓍᕵ ᘉᓍᖶ ᕲᘿᖴ
* Spatial Magicia:
Transmute space...
T̵̳̞̃͋a̶̟͛s̶͓̹͗
ɱɛŋ ơʄɛ ῳąཞ
* Hexic:
Create hexes…
ᗪ丨丂
υєя ιנк υננ
Animal Powers:
* Canis Lupis Simul:
Transform into a half-mongrel...
ᄃΛП
ፈᏗᏁ ᏝᏬᎮ ᏕᎥᎷ
* Lacertilia Simul:
Transform into a half-reptile...
Ɔɐl
ʟǟƈ ȶɛʀ ֆɨʍ
* Mimic:
Mimic living beings…
₥ł₭
i๓i ๓i๓ i¢๓
Powers Of the Body:
* Super healing:
Heal living beings…
𝔥𝔢𝔩
ıǝq ɓuı ʌıl
* Body Manipulation:
Manipulate your body...
ᎴᏋᎧ
ภє๏ ๒๏г เՇ๏
* Invisibility:
Turn invisible...
𝔦𝔳𝔦
𝔰𝔦𝔟 𝔦𝔩𝔢 𝔞𝔪𝔞
'Hmm, each aspect only has a small explanation of it along with words that come up as fuzzy' Waynev viewed the options, as a person who clearly never had experience with video games or fantasy books.
So as any rational person would do, Waynev followed her gut.
And her gut led her to consider being half-animal or having mimic powers.
Which albeit sounded cool, but thinking about it as if she were back on earth Waynev immediately changed her opinion on being half dog or lizard.
Since she had no inkling of what this new world could hold being an outcast half-animal or half-human was the last thing on her agenda.
She also struck out Object manipulation and Power of the mind which sounded mysterious, but ultimately having brain powers and being able to move around or change matter was limited compared to one of her options in Force Control.
'Now teleportation is useful, hexes are… rituals? Charms? Waynev clearly remembered hexes being related to voodoo.
Stopping herself from getting too distracted Waynev focused on the aspect that caught her attention? No, Mind's eye sounded a lot cooler.
Spatial Magicia, being able to transmute space, seemed… overwhelmingly powerful. Whereas other aspects focused on the small elements, Waynev thought BIG.
Elements capable of making dark matter and antimatter were off the scales compared to manipulating measly fluids. Although technically it didn't say she could make antimatter and dark matter, Waynev heard enough from nerds that not choosing the possible ability to make a nuclear explosion was a bad idea.
With that thought in mind (and hoping that she wasn't jumping to conclusions) Waynev focused on the Spatial aspect. Filling her head with its possible powers, she mentally chose and saw another colour suddenly meld with the purple glow.
Spatial Magicia merging with A** C***R**
Transmute space...
T̵̳̞̃͋a̶̟͛s̶͓̹͗
ɱɛŋ ơʄɛ ῳąཞ
There was still hardly any information, did this mean information was rare? Did people in Temporous guard information with their lives? Waynev's thoughts were interrupted by the world falling apart around her, time was light and precious she wouldn't let it go easily.
Opening her eyes, the world around her suddenly seemed very different.
"I see you've chosen Wayne," Waynev opened her eyes, noticing her perspective changed from sitting upright on the couch to a low slouch. Moving her butt back against the soft fabric, massaging her legs to her back as she fixed her posture and looked up at Vein. Who seemed to be interacting with multiple floating orbs as if it were normal.
No, not orbs, she could feel the aspects now, in the air in front of her, too powerful to interact with, but she could feel an inkling of them calling to her.
Willingly giving what she could not take.
"Your combination of aspects will certainly be interesting, Spatial magicia is rare enough but to have it meld with Apt control was very fortunate considering the… high mortality rate to those who control such an aspect." Vein remarked with a curious grin on his face as if wondering how long she would survive even with the random aspect.
"Apt control is another aspect, common in humans but still useful in controlling the more powerful aspects. Having it meld with you like your second and last aspect, was fortunate.”
"Wayne, Spatial Magicia is unique as it is rare, normally found in astral races made up of stars. In mortals, without proper training, it could be lethal, tread lightly and remember opposites attract in magic".
Vein mysteriously told Waynev as she could feel Shadow also choosing her element. Another change going through her, but where last time it went through mind and body, she could only feel the effect on her body this time.
"Hmmph, so many options and yet so little real choices when you consider their uses," Shadow remarked, her voice laced with contemplation and a neutral tone.
"What aspect did you choose Shadow?" Waynev asked aloud, not feeling embarrassed speaking to 'herself' like she usually would in other company. "I chose Spatial since I could us-”
Waynev remembering Vein was in front of her, hesitated swapping words "use it to… teleport? What did you choose?" Waynev asked, trying to hide her earlier hesitation.
"Telepathy," Shadow directed more at Vein than Waynev "Vein, what aspect did mine meld wit-" Shadow started then reconsidered
"Actually, is there a way to tell me… and only me?"
Vein nodded and sent a small glowing yellow rod of light through Waynev's eye, nearly blinding her, causing her to squeak suddenly at the penetration. Shadow, however, felt pleased hearing the information perhaps even ecstatic although she was trying to hide it for some reason.
Waynev getting nearly blinded raged at Vein and Shadow for not trusting her and even begging to hear the news. Feeling more than a slight bit of betrayal at Shadow so obviously trying to hide her second aspect from her.
Then the room went still.
Suddenly Shadow and Waynev remembered it wasn't an ordinary Friday afternoon and they were in the presence of a God and have been not only ignoring him but by extension disrespecting him. Waynev and Shadow stood to attention, Waynev's lips pursed and even without a body, Waynev could tell Shadow was paying attention, prepared to react to the overwhelming power, emanating from Vein nearly drowning the two.
Where moments ago stood a normal ordinary, two-faced young/old man now stood a power beyond they could even tolerate. Waynev's vision swam, a mixture of colours shading her vision as once again, she felt like her world was getting turned upside down.
"Well," Vein said suddenly the power receding as fast as it washed over the young woman, "Now that you're out of your little daydream, we have business to discuss." Vein rose as he slowly stepped around the table.
Suddenly the desk looked a lot more entertaining than the eyes that bore into Waynev.
"Wayne, I demanded." Enunciating the words slowly, he continued.
"Not requested for you to save Temporous. I did it because I knew you were capable however like all things in life the carrot comes first." The sofa under Waynev suddenly turned towards Vein with what seemed like a glance.
"Then comes the stick." Raising his hand a picture forming before her eyes.
A beautiful woman with long curled brown hair stood over two younger girls. Eyes and hair matching in colour but not length. The girl on the left having straight brown hair a few centimetres from her shoulder and the girl on the right having luscious long hair and a beautiful curve of the mouth much like the one her mother wore above her.
"Wayne," Vein's skin prickling as if alive, "The reason I chose you was because you had two souls in one, imbalanced, imperfect and ideal for that very reason. However "Vein suddenly turned towards the picture, animating it, so the three of them were moving and laughing.
Zooming in towards Elise, he paused the picture again opening his mouth more than he had before revealing a white and yellow split of teeth "If you were to fail…" Elise in the photo began to have a thin barely noticeable line go down the middle of her face, down to her neck unforeseen.
Then the redline slowly tormentingly began widening "I would have to create an imbalanced, imperfect figure for the next time distortion."
"I don't fail when balance has failed. I succeed."
"If succeeding means merging two people to create the ideal, needed to save millio-. No, to save Temporous, then you better BELIEVE I will push her life to ruin."
"I am the Vein needed, just as you are the hero this world needed, although I suppose a bit forced hmm?" Vein grinned darkly at her, even now she could feel his magic at work.
Chuckling Vein carefully dropped a ...drop? What looked like a crystal drop onto the table "Wayne, it's been fun, and I will be watching. Now grab the drop and enter Temporous or-"
"What if I wanted to go back home aft-" Vein silenced her with a quick push of his… mana? It didn't feel the same.
Vein replied slowly, drawing something elongated and caustic with power out of thin air.
"Survive and hope this world temper's you to be much stronger." Vein laughed, what should have been a chuckle accentuated by his dual vocal cords.
Waynev could feel Shadow looking at Vein with a glare.
"You'll send us to our death, and then you'll make Elise do the same" Shadow spat words coming out faster than Waynev could warn her "Give us something to have a chance, magic's nice and all but in a world where everyone and their dog has a magic aspect we are YEARS BEHIND!"
As Shadow finished, Waynev could already feel her stomach clenching, her face pinched waiting for the inevitable backlash that would no doubt end what little patience Vein had.
But it never came.
Instead, Vein's weapon phased out faster than a lightbulb, with a thoughtful look on his faces, he gazed at Waynev.
"Shadow blunt yet accurate as I envisioned."
"As I stated before there are rules and magic was my limit in terms of powers I can give, however…" Vein now grinned "I can give you what many on Soumia want and prayed for years and continue to pray for."
"A way to measure your progress, let me introduce you to your stats."
With Vein's flourish, she didn't see anything come her way, but she did feel it.
Then suddenly like a hologram, the words were projected in front of Waynev.
Current Status:
Agility:
1.1AH
Strength:
0.7AH
Vitality:
0.9AH
Wisdom:
1AH
Mana:
(Locked)
"Your stats show your physical abilities, accessed anytime. Temporous has something similar, however, instead of it being an accurate selection of your base abilities, it shows your current rank." Waynev, about to ask about her rank and what the stats meant, stopped as Vein raised his hand again.
"Now, your rank is important, however…" Vein's neutral tone turned sombre.
"What binds me as the Primal God Vein, limits and empowers. I'll explain your stats and give you what your gift has cost you." Vein leaned back in his chair, Waynev now noticing how out of place the ergonomic chair and some of the other objects are in the room.
'Earth probably isn't the only world he's seen… or visited' Waynev idly thought as Vein with a lazy sweep of his arm had his magic express her four stats and like before she also noticed mana was missing from the explanation.
Agility:
The ability to change the body's position, balance, speed and reflexes efficiently.
Strength:
The amount of force that can be exerted by muscles in the body in a single contraction.
Vitality:
Your body's capacity to take damage and it's rate of healing.
Wisdom:
Dictates how fast your mana regenerates and the size of your mana pool scales exponentially.
Mana:
[Locked]
"Agility being our strongest and strength our weakest, what's the scale? The average Human?" Shadow directed at Vein after noticing the discrepancy.
"Yes, 1.0 is the average human." Vein said annoyance began to form on his face and… a smile?
“Now everything is balanced.”
“But I’m not the god of balancing.” He looked up and the smile was full force.
Clicking his hands together another screen came up.
Quest:
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
* Gain two gifts.
* Gain one consequence.
Consequence:
Each quest must be completed on time else failure will result in a consequence.
Time Limit:
Bypassed.
“Quests? Like looking for things?” Waynev looked at the new screen, feeling a lot more uncertain about Shadow's previous outlash.
“Quest’s assigned automatically based on the best scenario at the time. Once you enter Temporous you're on your own, enjoy the gifts and remember to use what comes naturally.”
"Now go, before I decide to send two humans instead of sending just the one one." Vein looked through Waynev's eyes into Shadow.
Waynev's vein he thought.
"Grab the drop before he changes his mind!" Shadow urged, still feeling the need to protect her only friend and sister.
Wayne, in the same state of urgency and not wanting to risk another emotional outburst from Vein, took her advice. Nearly lunging out of the couch, she grabbed the drop and felt crystals go up from the drop to her hand-arm-shoulder-
And then she was gone.
Chuckling Vein leaned over and pet his good boy behind the ears "She'll be perfect," Vein cooed, his presence not startling the dog seal once, instead the dog rolled over, a chubby belly revealed.
"One stone hits two birds was the proverb or was it, two souls…"