Myriads of emotions of unknown origins lay in that voice. Wondering if it was an illusion or a dream conjured by his mind, he stared at her beautiful visage in doubt and apprehension. How could this dream-like scenario be explained otherwise?
“So… You were really alive in the end, huh? I guess Apollo was right once again. Well, not like it’s anything new honestly. That fucker is always right one way or another.”
This snarky and foul manner of speech was a stark contrast to the stupidly beautiful face she wielded.
“So it really is you…”
“Hum? I get the feeling you came to such a conclusion using a slightly rude manner.” Venus eyed him with clear suspicion in her eyes, but all it did was make him even happier than before.
Now he was sure that it was no one else but Venus, the one he knew from his distant memories. He approached her, slowly at first, but soon his legs moved in a blur, faster than he had hoped they would, and immediately rushed into her frame as he hugged the woman within his arms.
“Venus!”
Eyes opened wide, Venus couldn’t help but chuckle as a gentle and fond smile stretched her face as she hugged him back. She ignored the trembling shoulders that quivered against her embrace, simply choosing to pat Noah on the back as she spoke, “There, there. I never thought I would see the tough, go-lucky Noah to shed a tear like this. Ain’t this a sight for sore eyes?”
“I ain’t crying, it’s just some sweat,” a choked voice came out in return but all it did was make Venus snicker harder. “Heh. If you say so. It would have been fun if Capricornus could see you in this state. You always called him a nerd and a crybaby after all.” Noah did not answer back. Whether that was out of sheer embarrassment or not was something that only he knew in his heart.
The two stayed in that peaceful state for very a short moment before Venus taped Noah gently in the back and separated herself,
“Sorry. While I would love nothing more than to prolong this beautiful reunion, I really can’t. You are in grave danger Noah, and the longer I stay in this awakened state the more dangerous it will become for you.” She pushed Noah back and placed her hands on the corners of his lips, stretching them into a smile.
“What did I teach you, Noah?”
“Always smile. No matter the situation.” Noah shook his head, gathering himself, and wiped his eyes as he took a step back from her as well.
“Indeed…”
“Indeed. Still my best student to this date.” She smiled compassionately at the recollection of their past. “A smile is a weapon. A tool, my dear. It inspires your friends, keeps your enemies guessing, and ensures that no matter what you are always the one in complete control of the situation. Just because you see a smile, don't think you know what is underneath it.”
Noah was confused. He didn’t know just where she was trying to go with this bizarre conversation. There were just so many things he wanted, needed to ask from her… so much he wished to know… so many mysteries he wanted her to solve for him. It was honestly unbearable for him to keep his silence.
“I want you to smile my dear. Smile and keep your ears open as I give you all the information I am able to. My access and permission in this space are limited as you might or might not be Noah even though you have the memories of the Noah we know and cherish. Or, you might have changed too much even though you are Noah at the core of your being.”
“What…”
“Smile, shut up, and listen attentively when I speak.” A hurried voice leaked out of Venus, perhaps signifying the short time they had between them. She did not let Noah have the time to respond back to her words.
She was indeed the Venus he remembered. The one with the most queen-like majestic aura and the highest authority in their group. She was akin to a big sister who took care of the members and guided them with her authority.
“Look. Do you remember Project Ark? Well, the project was aborted. We all saw it. Your last stand, the way you guys sacrificed yourself, and most importantly— the wormhole you created when you exploded with the Parasite Queen.”
She shook her head with a sigh, “Until then, Wormholes had been a myth. Even though Einstein’s theories all pointed towards their existence and everything was basically proved in the realm of theories… we had no means of finding a wormhole out there. But you… you did it. You created a wormhole and… it changed everything.” “Humanity decided to forsake the idea of fleeing and chose to fight instead. And this discovery, coupled with the energy that resulted from the creation of the wormhole started affecting Earth in ways that were far beyond our imagination. People with special powers started popping up throughout the globe and society started to change into something more. A structure that was never seen or imagined before.
“As with all change, it was followed by a long period of chaos as those who had been left to die on the planet were not keen on accepting the ones that came back after basically abandoning them. As funny as it was, a new internal war began once more. It spanned the entire globe and we humans, as stupid as we are, nearly wiped ourselves out. However, the new discoveries helped us focus and redirect our minds elsewhere. We called that special energy that leaked out of the wormhole— Aether. We did not know how to harness or control it but it helped boost humanity forward by eons. Type-I and Type-II levels of civilization were reached in mere decades!” She hissed, still awed by the rate of their own evolution, so different from anything they had ever witnessed, imagined, or even hoped to imagine. However, it didn’t take long for her expression to darken.
“Even so, we were still not satisfied by our rapid advance. The evolution of humanity as a whole was fast but it was not nearly enough. The Parasites were an ever-looming threat on the horizon that could come back at any moment. Furthermore, the schism between humanity only continued to grow with time and soon it became evident that it was impossible for peace to truly come back. The hatred was just too great for us to unite under one banner, and so… two groups emerged from this chasm.”
“The first one wanted to focus internally. Determining that the human potential had been opened and that by studying the smallest particles, one could once again open a wormhole and harness more of its energy in oneself to promote further growth. The others became more interested in the vast Sea of Stars that were out there, waiting for us to pursue. Wishing to expand and explore, to colonize the planets situated in the vast galaxy, they used their understanding of wormholes that you pioneered for us as a means to explore further and farther in the universe. But they soon reached a clear impasse.”
Noah could not help but mutter under his breath, “Time.”
“Ding~ Ding~ Ding~ We have a clear winner. That’s right, even with light speed it was inherently impossible for us to explore even our own galaxy, much less the universe in any reasonable amount of time. Even if we took into account generational ships, it was far different from the initial goal of wandering the vast space with the Arks. We needed a faster means of transport or a way for us to prolong our lives. Thankfully, we managed to find a solution. Something that, admittedly, was only possible thanks to the efforts of Vulcan and Minerva.”
Vulcan was Capricornus and Minerva was Virgo. Even though Vulcan was repeatedly called a nerd by Noah, it was in no way an insult. Vulcan had helped him in repairing Ouroboros many times over and he had a level of understanding that far surpassed Noah.
Venus laughed fondly, “Even in death, we are truly the best. We realized that those two had been working on a daring project and had made a long headway. It was ########”
Noah waited for her to continue but all he could see was Venus moving her mouth in weird shapes yet no sound came out of her mouth no matter how her lips moved. She stopped when she realized that her words were not reaching him. A look of bewilderment colored her face, but soon, it made way for an ashen wrath that contorted her face in fury.
“Fuck! Seriously!? Even that!? Who the fucking hell inserted the ### in the ###.”
Her words seemed to be censored whenever she spoke but Noah was able to understand that this was not the type of family-friendly censoring he used to see in videos.
“You are unable to share the information.”
“I…” Endless emotions surged in her face— frustration, anger, a look of apology and so much more… too many for anyone to decipher. In the end, she simply sighed and arranged her coat. Her expression settled down as a dazzling, albeit strained, smile once again appeared on her face, “Well. It seems like I won’t be able to share any more regarding this part of our long history. So let me tell you what needs to be known. Simple and concise. Are you ready?”
“I was born ready.” Noah joked around as he tried to ease the nervousness he felt within.
Venus chuckled and her smile became more relaxed as she spoke, “In Quantum physics, there was one theory that was regarded more as a joke than anything else by many in the past. That theory is often called the Theory of Many Worlds.”
“Venus…”
“Well. Like wormholes, that theory was not just a joke in the end, you see. Thanks to those who decided to focus on the internal world, we were able to make this discovery.”
“Don’t tell me…” Noah’s voice was subdued as he realized what she was trying to convey to him.
“Well. You are quite smart Noah. So you should have already managed to guess by now.” Venus took a deep breath and finally confirmed the one truth Noah had been dreading to have reached.
“This. Is. Not our universe. Noah. This. Is. Not our home. This is— a parallel universe.”
Venus's words had seemingly sent a shockwave through Noah’s mind by the sheer incredulity they posed.
Throughout his journey inside the Star Gate, there had been numerous instances when he had noticed bizarre things, things he felt to be extremely weird and incredulous. However, every single time, he had dismissed them as mere coincidences because otherwise, it would have made no sense.
Noah may have never have been as much of a scientific nerd as Vulcan or even Minerva, but he was still one of the penultimate creations of the White Room, the height of what a human could be. And due to that, he also had his own share of knowledge regarding some theories of Quantum Physics thanks to all the lessons they were forced to learn.
The many-worlds theory proposed that every time one state, or outcome, was observed and thus made real, there was another world, eerily similar in nature, in which a different quantum outcome became reality.
This was collectively known as a branching arrangement, in which instant by instant, our perceived universe branched into near-infinite alternatives. Those alternate universes were completely separate and unable to intersect, so while there may be uncountable versions of a single person living a life that's slightly — or wildly — different from the life they lead in this world, you'd never be able to know or perceive them.
It was a theory that had been used and reused, countless times, by all manner of science fiction.
“So you mean to say… when I entered through that wormhole, I was sent to another universe?”
“Indeed. Well, it wasn’t instantaneous, or technically it was I think? Relatively speaking, the time you spent inside the Sea was probably extremely long but for those outside of the wormhole, it may as well have been instantaneous.” Venus scratched her hair, “The channel that connects the different realities was named Sea of Quanta by us. Some people learned how to observe the Quantum realm at a certain level and could thus perceive the different outcomes and reality in a relatively flimsy and shoddy manner. Thus, they became the first seers of humanity. Some other people learned how to enter this sea and well… they died. All of them.”
She shook her head with a sigh, “The Sea of Quanta is extremely corrosive to any invaders of the realm. It’s nearly impossible for one to survive inside the sea as their body would be destroyed, annihilated while they try to find their direction in a place where neither space nor time really mattered in the end.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“... But, I survived.”
“You did indeed.” Venus fidgeted on her feet as she spoke. Clearly, she had been uncomfortable about what she was about to say next, however, after a small cough she was able to gather her bearings once more.
Taking a deep breath, she finally laid out her thoughts, “You remember each of us has certain special abilities, right?”
Noah nodded in acknowledgment. The thirteen constellations were a marvel of genetic engineering.
All of them were incredible warriors in their own right and exceptional Mecha pilots unlike any other before them or after… However, that was not the only reason they were deemed special. The world government wouldn’t have invested so many resources just to give birth to thirteen relatively stronger soldiers and bet their entire future on them.
Project Eden had been done with the sole purpose of creating mutants, humans higher up on the evolutionary hierarchy. The project was deemed as the precursor that would allow humanity to reach a greater point of existence, a higher pedestal that would usher in a better future. In short, they had been trying to emulate the evolutionary superiority and rapid evolutions of the Parasites. In a way they succeeded but at the same time, they had failed to achieve what they really wished to create.
None of the thirteen were the superhumans they had been expecting but at the same time, they were much more than anything they could have ever hoped to create. Each of them was born with rather special talents that, while not extremely noticeable from the start, had continued to grow as they fought and grew themselves.
Noah – one of the greatest successes of the whole project, perhaps the greatest creation even – was born with the most unnoticeable ability among them all. After all, adaptability was not something that could be seen and understood easily or even in an instantaneous process. It was reinforced by the fact that Noah’s ability had not really been as strong as it was at present.
Taurus undoubtedly had the greatest strength in their group, easily breaking records even strongmen were unable to approach, in his infancy alone. While this might seem useless when taken in the context of space battles that were mostly done inside Mechas, his innate strength and resilience allowed him to have the highest Dive level out of all of them at first. Even after Noah went on to surpass him and become the strongest, he was still a high second in their group till the very moment of his death in the final battle.
Virgo had been the tactician and generally, the on-field leader who directed all of them to victory many times with her precise leadership. Her ability allowed her to accept and analyze insurmountable amounts of information that was humanly impossible normally to accept. If her body had been stronger, she would have had the highest Dive level out of all of them without the slightest doubt. Even Noah at the time thought that he would be unable to catch up to her level if she had a body capable of withstanding the strain.
Leo had been in a way very similar yet different from Virgo. She was not a thinker. She was a doer, a born predator ready to hunt from her very birth. She had the highest reflex out of every single one of them. She did not analyze, she simply acted on the tunes that her body showed her in real-time. Because of that trait of hers, her movements had always been erratic but useful. She had ways of winning that others were never able to emulate due to the lack of the senses she possessed.
Technically speaking, each of the constellations was better than Noah in one special domain. The reason Noah was the strongest was very simple at the end of the day. If everyone had an average of 5 and one stat at 10, the maximum one was able to reach, Noah's basic average was all at 8 or 9.
Then, what was Sagitarrius’s ability?
Well… For one, she was the only one Noah accepted was more beautiful or handsome than him. Her name, Venus, had not been for show after all. She really emphasized the title of Goddess of Beauty. However, she was also proof that the more beautiful something was, the more deadly it could be.
Sagitarrius’s ability was simple in reality. She had the highest coordination and dexterity among all of them thanks to her talent. She had been the combat instructor of the constellations and Noah had no shame in admitting that in terms of pure combat ability, she had bested him far too many times for his liking.
“Apollo was always very smart and his intuition was extremely developed. In a way, his ability was similar to that of Minerva and Diana. He could receive information and intuit things on a metaphysical level at times. Analysis, reflex and intuition, heh~ They were really the golden trio, weren’t they?” She chuckled to herself, “Either way, Apollo’s ability evolved and became far more than just simple intuition, even though it showed metaphysical potential many times.”
Closing her eyes for a second, she soon opened her mouth to deliver her next words, “He… became a seer, a true seer. The very first and obviously, the best seer to ever exist. Capable of both seeing and observing realities simultaneously but his ability was limited. There was a lot of untapped potential that he wasn’t able to unearth due to his physical limitations. It was only after reaching a level equivalent to that of a Type-III civilization that we were able to build the first true Focus— a gigantic tower in space that was specially developed to allow a true seer to gain astronomical insight into the Quantum world.
“There, Apollo, aided by thousands of lesser seers, managed to peer through the simple future of a single universe and was able to see farther than anyone had ever before him. He then declared that you were surely and undoubtedly alive. Out there, somewhere. In a plane, that was not the same as ours.”
“I guess that bastard was still useful for something.”
“He died soon thereafter. The load that came with that action quite literally fried his brain.”
Noah clamped his mouth shut at those words. All the constellations saw each other as a family beyond the simple notions of family. They were closer, their bonds ran thicker than blood. The death of one of them was always impactful enough for all of them to be unable to function properly for a significant amount of time.
Noah did not know how long it took for Earth to even reach the level of a Type-III civilization but by now, the time the surviving constellations would have spent together should be far longer than they had during the Parasite war era.
“I…”
“Don’t worry. Only his body died we ####.” She stopped and frowned at the limitation that had been put over her voice, “Fuck. Anyway. Apollo’s body died. We found you survived yada, yada, yo. However, the question was… How the hell did you even survive? After many simulations and hundreds of theories, we were finally able to reach an established consensus. Your ability— your Adaptability allowed you to survive the journey through the Sea of Quanta. So imagine what happened next.”
Noah didn't have to imagine, it was already obvious what the next logical step would be. “New experiments.”
“Yep. They tried. Failed and when we found out about their heinous deeds, we simply annihilated them. Thousands of innocent children sacrificed for absolutely nothing or rather…nearly nothing. As sad as it was, thanks to those wretched experiments we were able to learn something new. Adaptability hadn’t been the only reason you had survived. Something else intervened in the process that gave you the means of survival.”
“I fused with the Parasite Queen.”
“...”
The silence that followed was heavy and though the two of them were donning calm smiles, there was an unmistakable tension in the air.
Venus opened and closed her mouth many times, trying her best to formulate her words. However, she finally chose to shrug and responded in a light tone instead, “Indeed. We came to the same conclusion you…”
She was about to continue but the facility started vibrating violently. Her form and the whole white room seemed to have become fuzzy as if there was an interference in the signal that connected them.
This was followed by earth shaking intense rumblings which caused Venus to curse under her breath.
“Fuck! I made a mistake. Sorry! I wasted too much of our time. I wanted to tell you so much more but we can't. I am also unable to send information to you because of those fucking protocols.”
She started rattling, rapid firing the words she wished to convey, “Noah! I don't know if you are still the Noah we know and cherish, but I don't care. The Noah I know would never let himself be swallowed by some fucking alien insect. So you are him, that’s established. Thank you for surviving through your lonely and grueling ordeal. This facility will self-destruct and with it, the entire planet will be swallowed. You need to run! As fast as possible!”
Her expression was frantic, the smile stretching her face now vanished completely. She rushed towards him, hugging him in her tight embrace as she looked at him with sincere emotions in her eyes.
“Thank you for everything you did for us. But this isn't the end. If you wish to come back home, then you need to master the power you have received from your fusion, and to do that… you will have to find…”
Bzzz~! Bzz~! Hints of red started manifesting everywhere in the surroundings, slowly corroding the realm of memories and projection. And in that corrosive red, he was able to see the manifestation of an eerie and vague symbol— an inverted tree with uncountable branches all swaying upside down.
“What’s happening here? Wha…”
Noah could feel his mind wavering, wriggling inside him so much that he thought he was having the world’s greatest migraine. All this started occurring the moment his mind landed on that accursed symbol.
“Don't look! You will be contaminated!”
She placed her hand on his chest and, after giving him one last kiss on his forehead — pushed him away with all the strength in her body.
Noah broke through the white room and the distance between him and Venus continued to increase as he sailed through the endless infinity of the white void.
“Venus!”
He wanted to go back to her. To understand just what the hell was going on here for her to become so desperate. He wanted to help her fend off this threat that was surely the cause of their destruction in this realm. However, he was utterly helpless and could only watch as the distance between them continued to widen despite his best efforts.
The last thing he heard as his consciousness started to slip was—
“Noah! There are more of those white realm gates, they are ###! Find ###, the Queen of the Shadow Fortress, train under her and you will have more answers! Lastly, and this is the most important part… be wary of Apollo and his ilk! They will not hurt you but you never know what they will do!”
The last thing he saw was— Venus smiling gently at him as she waved her hand as everything was swallowed in the corrosive red apocalypse.
.
.
.
***
Looking at the sight of Noah vanishing completely from cyberspace, the smile on Venus' space slowly vanished as well. In a flash, it was replaced by a cold expression while her body was covered in full armor, and an illusive bow manifested in her hands.
The scarlet light continued engulfing the space, corroding the white void till there was nothing, but there was no fear on Venus’ face. The corrosive red apocalypse soon coalesced into a singular entity… an entity beyond the classification of words.
It was such a form that nothing could describe what it truly looked like. All that could be said was that those who saw this form would be bathed in a feeling of facing the most beautiful being in existence and would also feel as if they were enveloped in compassion and benevolence.
“I guess Apollo was right once again. The Tree of Life never gave up on reaching and apprehending this universe.”
A sad smile surfaced on her face at the thought. She wished she could have spent more time with Noah inside this realm. Talk with him like she used to, tell him everything that happened over the countless years of his absence.
It must have been hard spending all that time by his lonesome.
She wished she could have given him a shoulder to cry on… wished that she could share every single one of his hardships.
“You might deny it… but you were always the greatest crybaby out of us all.”
Venus knew, more than anyone else, how much weight Noah had on his shoulders. For every smile he showed to the world, he would cry hidden in his room. His cheerfulness was nothing but a mask to hide his anxiety.
She wished she could have hugged him and told him that everything would be alright. Sadly, things might only become worse from now on.
As if I will let things happen like this!
A fierce smile formed on her face. There was not much she could do at the moment. Clearly, they were trying to use the entity she had imprisoned in this region as a relay point to find the exact coordinates of this bubble universe.
All she could do now was destroy it, preventing them from ever reaching this realm.
“Well, Tiferet, I guess it's time for you to die for real.”
She grinned and adjusted her stance. Her bow was drawn in a beautiful and taut arc, the maximum it was able to be pulled without breaking in half. Her eyes turned a dazzling gold and her voice lost all semblance of humanity that she had willingly bestowed in this vessel.
“Activate the Protocol of self-destruction. Erase the information link. Cut the connection to the Sea of Quanta.”
[Password: ...]
“May the Fruits of Knowledge Thrive.”
[Code Name: Sagittarius]
[Protocol Apocalypse activated. Glory to humanity and the Tree of Knowledge. Awaiting full activation.]
Sagitarrius nodded her head as the form of the ethereal abomination of beauty and benevolence became clearer with time. The entity sealed inside the gate had started to awaken due to the disturbance of Noah’s arrival. The very first thing of such an entity that reached her was the string of information that coalesced into a simple sentence.
{Be not afraid}
For one moment, she felt as if she was an insignificant being facing something of a skill that she would never be able to define or understand. And in front of such an insurmountable entity, all she had to do to avoid being squashed was lay down her weapon and surrender.
However—
“Afraid my ass!! This isn't Eden!”
She released her bow and immediately a blinding trail of all-devouring light followed its wake as it destroyed a quarter of the gigantic being of beauty and abomination. It still had yet to complete its awakening, but it was still powerful enough to withstand her blow.
It was quite sad that Noah couldn't see this battle. A smile befitting the goddess of beauty bloomed on her immaculate and ethereal face as she had that thought.
She would have shown him that he definitely was not the strongest of the Constellations any longer.
His expression would have been quite interesting to witness. Sadly her victory was short-lived as the destroyed remnants of the abominable being started reconstructing at a swift pace, swift enough for the eyes to observe in real-time.
Immediately, she became solemn. It was clear that this unholy bastard wasn’t the only one limited in the power they could bring to this realm.
“You gotta flee fast my friend. I don't think I will be able to hold on for long.”
Things were about to get more complicated than she had thought.