Sun. Wind. Chirps. All distant memories seemingly come to life in his vivid imagination. For much too long, the hope and need to experience the world again have tormented his weary bones. The erosion of time was able to fade the sensations his memories brought, but something was different today. It was vivid. Unrealistically so. Near indistinguishable from reality itself. The weirdest aspect of this ordeal was his sense of touch and energy being returned to him. Even his daydream fantasies were unable to conjure such pleasantries. Doubt began to rise within his hatred-filled heart. Was it all a bad dream? Is this a good dream?

His limited awareness currently restricts his talent for rational thought. The fine line between dream and reality became ever thinner under his lack of scrutiny, resulting in an existential dread of boundless magnitude. Was he a dream? No. It could not be true. The pain, hatred, guilt, sorrow, and despair he felt were much too damned to have been a mere fabrication. He, Paul Ballitz, was no figment. With his returning sense of self, he regained something long lost: control. Control over energy. Over touch and smell. And finally, sight. His eyes shooting open to reveal the shenanigans befuddling his mind and body. Body? Instead of taking in the breathtaking scenery and his rediscovered freedom, his gaze went to his hands and legs.

“Since when did I have a body?” he thought to himself once again, finding himself confused. After all, bodies don’t just appear out of nothing. His body was thoroughly eradicated more than a thousand years ago, leaving him in his spiritual form. Yet now he was again in possession of one. Some form of mix-up must have occurred. “Perhaps… no. Did he fail to fulfill his promise? ‘Greater than a god,’ he said. Such blasphemous utterances are not made haphazardly. There must have been some layer of truth to it. It would also not explain my current predicament.” With his slumbering brain continuing its reawakening, his thoughts became clearer and more logical.

If the being known as Samuel failed to fulfill his part of the bargain, he would be in possession of a body, which checks out. But he would remain trapped in his prison of deceit. If Samuel rescued him and left him stranded somewhere, then his possession of a body makes no sense. This paradox continued to knead his brain like dough for quite some time, to no avail. No logical answer was satisfactory. Only the more bizarre theories granting slight possibilities for what might have happened. Perhaps he was rescued and then bestowed with a body out of the kindness in Samuel’s being. Or the power transferred from his failure was sufficiently powerful to launch him across the universe. They still did not feel accurate, though. They felt empty. Void. Based on a lack of details and information by an inferior being. He felt tied and connected to a web of complications, truths, lies, and mysteries too profound for mortals like him to understand. It was frustrating, to say the least.

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Pulling his attention away from his new body and its creation, Paul directed his eyes to the surroundings. All the myriad colors constructed a haven of wonder in the landscape. Mountains piercing the sky. Trees extending in every direction with a rainbow of canopy. One singular but grand river separating it all in perfect symmetry. The rustling of the leaves, the squeaks of various birds, the chirps of insects, and the low hum of the universe brought it all together. A scene so stunning, an experience so unimaginable Paul became dazed once again. Never in his miserable life was anything like this even comprehensible to his tiny mind. The sensation of connecting and joining the very fabric of creation was indescribable. Paul felt at peace. He felt free. Without conscious thought, he entered a meditative state through resonance. His mind, his newfound core, and his very soul all began to vibrate to the hidden melody.

…

In the distant corners of Nullspace I, a pagoda stood tall and mighty. No one, not even its guardians, knows for how long. Leading many to suspect it predates the creation of Nullspace. Within the pristine red, blue, and gold walls were but nine modest steles. Each was engraved with one rune covering them entirely in their grace. The center stele was the only one standing out, as the rune there was in continuous change, wiggling similar to tentacles in a search for perfection. Or it was, until something spectacular happened. Its neighbor to the left embraced a vibration. The vibration was slow at first but rapidly increased in frequency. Not long after the vibration’s inception, it began to fade from view, seemingly into nothing. Mere moments before, however, the morphing engraving extended out into different dimensions, tangling with it. Instead of being affected by the vibrations, the primary stele almost became more solid and grounded under the influence.

A loud but inaudible sound rang from the pagoda, sending a shockwave only perceived by a few throughout the nearest area of the Nothingness. The newly awakened stele failed to escape and was kept prisoner by its older sibling. Yet the energy it was brimming with needed somewhere to be channeled. With only two possibilities ahead—empowering its brother or itself—it began to evolve. Almost in protest of choosing the path tread before it, it refused to change the form of its rune. Rather, it opted to empower it in different ways. Visually. The dull gray was no more, as colors both visible and not took its monotonous predecessor's place. Not only were the colors stunning, but they also conveyed something more. Power, yes, but something else as well. Emotion, awe, calm. If access to the room was not forbidden, the guardians would, peering at its beautiful imagery, find themselves in the untainted masterpiece of creation. Surrounded by mountains, trees, a river, and creatures content with what they have and what they’re given, And above all, the protector of those lands. A soul desperate to preserve it from the grubby hands of man. A soul finally awoken to its purpose and destiny. The Pantheon of Nature would find themselves welcoming their prophesied patriarch in the near future.