Seriously, why was I a glowstick now? Ah, now that I have processed it. Maybe all those lights flying around weren’t just lights. Could that be considered as genocide? Euugh! Even as fucked up as I was it still felt a little icky to be considered as a genocidal maniac. I was no hitler after all. The more important thing however- is how they were moving. The lights I saw earlier were darting around carefreely. How does light move? Now that was a very good question… Welp, guess I’m stuck here forever. Why couldn’t I just change back into my normal physical form?

Thump!

Did anyone see that? I can’t believe I really just ate shit like that. On the bright side- I’m normal again. Could I still shoot laser beams though? Oh! I could! They seemed to be significantly stronger now too. Maybe now that I wasn’t radiating all my energy into the surrounding nothingness I could actually channel it into something useful. Just how much can I manipulate the light though? Can it even leave my body? A few meters away from me I managed to gather some light and turn it into different colors and shapes. As I played around with the variations the light slowly took the form of a human with six arms. After that I did a little bit of coloring here and there and slowly but surely a light version of myself was created.

Haha! Now I could make illusions! Honestly felt kind of tedious though. Just creating myself took a couple minutes and I hadn’t even tried to make it move yet. No better time to learn than right now I guess.

…

What had worked? The melting feeling was gone now but we were all still glowing. Did he really do all this just to turn us into lightsticks? Hmm… I can’t move. I tried encasing myself in metal to give myself an exoskeleton of sorts but it didn’t help at all. Or maybe? Moving inside the exoskeleton was useless but I could indirectly move by manipulating the exoskeleton itself. It was primitive and ridiculous but it worked.

“...”

I tried speaking but the only thing that came out of my mouth was empty noise. This idiot had really screwed us over.

Hey dumbass! I can’t talk anymore!

Yes you can, just turn back into your normal form.

What? For once in my life I was glad that we were both the same person. This fucker had really put me into a arduous situation, I wasn’t sure if I had the level of wordcraft required to pacify these people. How long could I stay like this before they started going mad? Fine, I’ll just turn around and face the consequences as they come- That’s a nice surprise. There was no reason for them to be prostrated towards me though, or had they never seen a light based shifter? Should I simply accept their praise or be humble and have them all rise up, which choice of action would reinforce my presence more?

“Let us proceed as we were, the sick and injured may lay their hands upon us and the rest will continue as instructed.”

Hey, are the clones resummoned on your side?

That’s what I forgot… Ok, they’re back now.

It took a while for the people to get back on their feet and continue the process but I now noticed a distinctly more reverent look in their face and they were much more picky with where they placed their hands to receive healing from me. What was so special about that light?

…

I can’t believe I was that stupid. Clones weren’t just an extension of my body, they were also an extension of my mind. Technically I could learn thirty different things at once now since all of our consciousnesses were connected. That being the case we each summoned our own light clone and started trying to make it move as well. This new light power was extremely iffy. Unlike with the other elements I couldn’t get a grasp on what exactly its capabilities were. How much of it could I create? What unit would I even use to count it? How exactly did the light turn into heat? I needed a more solid grasp of what light was.

If I remembered correctly… light had no mass… it existed in the form of photons… ultimately, it was a form of energy. If my entire body had turned into light… just exactly how strong was I in light form? Could light even be strong? The way energy impacted the world depended on what form it was in and the amplitude. I turned back into light form and this time I tried moving my body like I did the light clone- it worked. To see how this form interacted with the world I would have to actually mess with the world. I should start simple though. I slowly pushed my hand into the ground and instead of the counterforce I expected I felt the existence of the tips of my finger disintegrating and reappearing very rapidly. It was almost unnoticeable if I didn’t push fast enough.

The ground on the other hand- was melting and bubbling but not exactly being pushed away or anything. I had kind of figured it out now. The light was rapidly being transformed into heat and that process was consuming my energy, which was being regenerated quickly. Was the regeneration a perk of the light form or because I already had that ability though? I mentally tried to turn off the prior regeneration abilities I had and touch the ground again. Yep, it had definitely slowed down significantly. Now onto the only way I figure out how to measure the power of the light. I switched back into beast form and surprisingly I was actually weaker now- or rather, my effect on the ground was weaker.

Why was that? Fuck this was confusing… Oh yeah! That light beam! I had gotten tripped up because I had assumed that I was unable to manipulate light in my light form but that shouldn’t be the case. I was right! Looking at the light clone standing opposite to me I knew I was correct. Just how strong was it…? Exactly the same?! Hold on- there had to be something I was missing. What could be the difference between my full form and my human form? The only way to tell the difference was by the amount of energy I could manipulate. Maybe a clone wasn’t the best idea then. I should try something that would remain static between the two forms… I already had the answer- light beam. I would just create a light beam of the exact same dimensions in both forms and see if there was any difference.

Since I was still in beast form I created the light beam in that form. Exactly one centimeter in diameter and going in a perfectly straight line. I channeled all the energy I could into the beam and swung it towards the trees in front of me in a half circle. I was merely anticipating a few centimeter deep cut but I had really managed to cut down a few layers of trees. An estimated three or four in a straight path according to what I was seeing. I turned back to human form and did the same to the other half of the circle. Approximately two or three in a straight path at max.

A couple repeats later I finally figured it out. It was the concentration of energy. Very specifically the amount of energy that had to be dispersed within a volume. In my full form I had access to significantly more energy but simultaneously it was dispersed across my massively increased volume. I found it hard to believe that I had forgotten such a simple formula. If that was the case- what would happen if I kept shrinking the light beam? The answer- the energy would compress at a hyper exponential rate and turn into a super light beam. Once again, my genius had impressed even myself.

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Now, onto the main question. Could I give this power to the boys? I wasn’t really even sure how exactly I had managed to gain it in the first place. Was it even possible to be transferred through blood? I called one of the boys out and had them consume a drop of blood… Fuck. No easy way out for me this time. I guess there was only one way then.

“Eat my finger when I give you the signal.”

I turned back into light form and stuck my finger out then had him eat it. Wow, I had forgotten how strong these bastards were. This was fucking unreal, my finger hadn’t even been able to phase it. On second thought- I had never actually tested just how strong they were. While waiting for his transformation to take place I started working on the next problem- The Sonic Caves. Based off of this experience there might be some difficulty consuming pure sound, at the same time though, there might not be. Research in my free time had told me that sound was simply vibrations, I might even be able to trap them the same way I did the light shifters and just force them into my body. But could I trap vibrations the same way I trapped light? The slight difference between the two was that sound could travel through all forms of matter.

Was there any material that could block or rebound vibrations? Maybe some sort of formation or frequency or something like that? There was the one completely silent room design I seen once, the one with the- Why is it so fucking hot? I guess he’s done transforming. That’s that I guess. I should get moving now, the only problem was that I still couldn’t figure out how to read the map. I need log.

***

She had seen many illusions like this one. They were used quite often, to tempt one into falling into their desires.

“Hey dummy.”

Was he still here? She identified the source of the noise and found him speaking to her through what she had learned was called a television. It was one of the inventions that had impressed her greatly, allowing people from the lower realm to record the past and create new realms. What was he doing inside the television though?

“This is a pre-recorded message I left for you because I know you are going to be unnecessarily suspicious of everything. The reason you are still in here is because, to be honest, I just want to mess with you for a little more before waking you up. I have no idea how much time might pass in there by the time I wake you up so in an attempt to help you maintain your sanity I have left fun activities to keep you occupied. This T.V. is able to create shows based on your specific queries, that table over there can create any food you wish to eat, and that bed can create any item you wish to have. Have fun!”

How foolish! She wouldn’t fall for such a trick again. It would be better to spend her time meditating and regaining her strength. Even if she was unable to train in here it would still keep her mind occupied.

To exist is to be one with fate.

To change fate is to change. To change is to change fate.

Change wills fate, and fate will change.

I am fate, and fate is me.

…

So thirsty. I must resist. I must resist. I must resist.

It was merely an illusion. There was no way for her to die in here. An illusion could never kill someone directly. If her body was fine then nothing that happened in here could harm her, not even her soul could be harmed in here. She merely had to resist the temptation, that was the only thing that could harm her.

“Jesus fucking christ... How? You are literally the only person that could manage to end up like this in here. Like, do you even see this? Look at this, it’s a coconut, with plenty of delicious juice. Or how about this? A tray of delicious meat, mmh yummy! So why in the world would you choose to starve? Are you afraid of getting addicted to food? Ooh! So scary! Doing something for my survival! You honestly astound me. I’d have an easier time understanding a rabid chihuahua with missing chromosomes than I would you. You know what, if you are so intent on being rebellious then I’ll help.”

Who? In her dazed state she had barely been able to connect the voice to a person before thirst and hunger suddenly crashed into her body with the weight of a mountain. Her throat felt like it had turned into a desert on a planet right next to the sun and her stomach felt like it had directly collapsed on itself and turned into a blackhole. The desperation to have anything at all to consume was tearing her very body itself apart. Then there was the madness, the madness that came from having no strength at all. Because she knew, even if there was food, she would not be able to eat. Forever trapped in this state, unable to even die.

Now joining the chaos in her body, was panic. The unreasonable sense of impending doom and destruction. Like her entire world was about to collapse for reasons unknown. Any attempt to refocus her mind was preemptively destroyed by a wave of hunger. This was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

“Woah, that’s kind of interesting. What if I do this too then?”

Another desire suddenly erupted- the desire to be filled. But this one was distinctly different. It made her want to shove anything she could grab into all the crevices of her body. Accompanying it was the intense need to be touched, to relieve all the pressure that had suddenly been placed on her body.

“What are you doing you idiot?”

“Just something.”

“This doesn’t look like just something- Could you for once in your life not think with your dick?”

“I wasn’t, I swear! I just thought it was really interesting.”

“If you destroy her mind, how are we going to find our way out of here?”

“You make a good point. Fine, I’ll leave her with you. But wait, isn’t there still that girl? Elaine?”

“Do you remember where she is?”

“I do not… I shall go be of use elsewhere.”

“Mm.”

Relief… it fell upon her like a blessing from fate. The mere feeling of that relief was enough to send her body into a convulsing state of unknown pleasure.

“What the fuck?”

When she regained her senses she looked up to see… Vaun? He felt far too different to be the same person she had been seeing this whole time.

“So you can already tell. That makes things easier. I’m Vaun, just not the other one.”

What was happening? Another ploy?

“You truly are foolish. Learn to take things at face value. However, seeing as you must still be recovering from the shock I’ll keep things nice and simple. We are lost, we have no idea where we are and need someone to guide us. You are that person. Our only other alternative is consuming this world inch by inch until we manage to find our way. It is up to you to make the choice of whether or not this world deserves to exist. Give me your answer when ready.”

If the other one was a wild card that could cause complete chaos at any moment then this one was a cold and calculating strategist moving pieces on an invisible board. Which of the two was the one in control? At this point she didn’t have time to think about the beast her father had sent her to search for, whatever it was that was standing in front of her had her completely under its control.

“Stop thinking so hard. Just cooperate with us and things will go well. I too have my methods, and it would be a shame to have to use them on you.”

She didn’t like the feeling he gave her at all, something was just wrong. She couldn’t tell what it was but she felt it.

“I’ll help. Just leave me with the other one.”

“As you wish.”

***

She’ll help us.

Wow, how’d you do it? Did you finally lose your virginity?

No, I used my words.

Totally believable, knowing you, which really just means knowing me. I know you probably found some way to threaten her.

Whatever you wish to believe.

“WhAteVer YoU wiSh tO BEliEvE.”

That stupid fucking phrase. That was the one phrase that always destroyed my confidence in my ability to read people. It was also the same phrase that my first girlfriend had always used on me. That had been an interesting time… Focus. I needed to extract the sedative I gave her from her body. But how do I get it out? That was a problem I should have learned how to solve a long time ago now that I think about it. Could I just cancel the poison like I did the metal eaters? Wait, I still need to go find the disease that eats light! Almost forgor. Anyways-

“Wake up shalacabam!”

Did it work…? I prodded her forehead a couple times and yep, she did open her eyes.

“Welcome back. I hope there aren’t any hard feelings between us and if there are I’d be happy to resolve them on a nice and comfy bed.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“Straight to the point huh? Well, in the time between you meeting my other half and waking up I’ve suddenly remembered something. Have you heard of the diseases that consume elements?”