Michael saw a gap near the Draco’s body. It was small but with the loss of his left limb, he could fit, maybe.
Then he moved.
But he didn’t.
Michael watched his surroundings move slowly. He tried to take advantage of this by moving but he quickly realized that his body was no longer listening to him. He tried to move his fingers but noticed that he no longer had control of his body, only his mind.
Ah… the drugs are gone.
With his deteriorating and shattered body, Michael could no longer resist the onslaught of the drug’s side effects. The ability to perceive his surroundings at a faster rate was just his mind delaying the inevitable.
He could only move in the confines of his mind but even that was not permanent.
Michael could feel his body slowly eject him outward, rejecting his own will. It was clear that his body was no longer able.
But before he could resist, time resumes its inevitable crawl. The fire on the white thread quickly expands and within seconds, a powerful explosion occurs within the cave.
Michael’s final actions were to close his eyes with a smile. For a moment, he feels complete peace.
He opens his mouth to speak.
“Evelyn…”
----------------------------------------
Evelyn and Bob continued to dig. The sun has gone down but their work was able to bring forth some results. They’re at the very least, inside the cave.
“Bob… we’re getting too deep… I think we need to get some support in here or else it’ll collapse..”
Bob doesn’t respond. His hands were both dirty and bloody from the digging.
Evelyn sighs.
“Bob, we need to go.”
Bob still doesn’t respond.
Evelyn sighs and lifts Bob.
An ear-shattering scream enters Evelyn’s ear as Bob starts to throw a tantrum.
Bob starts to smack and scratch Evelyn’s face.
Evelyn looks at Bob’s face and sees the stains of anger and pain.
“... Bob… we have to stop for now…”
Bob screeches, refusing to sign for Evelyn.
“I… Michael… Michael wouldn’t want you to be like this.”
Despite her efforts to be strong, Evelyn feels a deluge of emotions building up inside her.
No… I can’t… lose hope… He’s still there. I’m sure of it… Michael’s a monster, he wouldn’t die.
Pushing back her tears, Evelyn gives Bob a stern look.
“Bob Laurent.”
Hearing his full name, Bob momentarily stops as if a bucket of ice-cold water was poured on top of him.
“We… we need to be healthy. We need to be safe. We cannot let our emotions cloud our judgment, okay?”
Bob sees the pain in Evelyn’s eyes and nods.
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Evelyn replies with a weak but proud smile.
Letting go of Bob, she stands up and offers him a hand.
“Let’s… let’s get cleaned up. And get some support for this place. I don’t want us getting trapped and Michael having to fish us out.”
Bob nods.
The two of them leave the cave’s entrance.
Once outside, Evelyn saw that the sun was going down. Along with it, her hope that Michael was still alive underneath the rubble.
She sighs and tells Bob to rest instead. They’ll continue tomorrow.
After feeding Bob and tucking him back to sleep in a makeshift room, Evelyn goes to her own makeshift bed. Lying down, she feels uncomfortable. Her bed is just a bunch of roughly made clothes stacked on top of each other. The bed Michael made was much more comfortable.
Looking at the ceiling, Evelyn didn’t even feel sleepy, a boon provided by her newly evolved body.
What am I doing?
Standing up from her bed, Evelyn exits their makeshift room and finds that Bob is nowhere to be seen.
“Bob?”
Hearing no response, Evelyn goes outside and finds that Bob is dragging a definitely-too-large piece of wood. The little monkey was dragging it toward the shattered cave.
Without a word, Evelyn goes to their stockpile of supplies and starts carrying an obscene amount of wood as well.
Due to her newly evolved body, Bob wasn’t able to hear Evelyn’s steps. Believing that she’s still asleep, Bob starts to install the wooden support.
“That’s not how you do it.”
Startled, Bob jumps up. He notices that Evelyn is carrying a large supply of wood as well.
“Let’s start?”
Bob sees Evelyn’s determined look and he nods.
The two of them continue to dig.
----------------------------------------
After the explosion, Michael finds himself in darkness. He couldn’t move his body.
“Where am I?”
No response.
Trying to move his body, Michael finds he can’t feel anything.
He tries to flex his fingers but quickly finds that he can’t feel anything at all.
“Already forgot how to do this? It’s only been a year Michael.”
Fudge.
A hearty laughter fills the void.
“You know. I heard some people find that annoying.”
Michael rolls his non-existent eyes.
“Fudge? People don’t like it?”
The voice in the void replies with mirth.
“Yeah! I was surprised too. I think they just prefer the word, fuck.”
Michael chuckles.
“Well, I don’t care about what random people think.”
The invisible creature shrugged. Michael waited for a reply but after an uncomfortable silence, he spoke.
“What now?”
The voice replies.
“Oh, sorry. I was a bit preoccupied.”
Michael chuckles.
“The omnipotent is pre-occupied?”
A beautiful melodious laugh fills the void once more.
“Oh, Michael. How, I missed your presence.”
Michael raised an eyebrow.
“We only met once. I don’t think I’ve done anything that’s worth missing.”
Goddess shakes her head.
“You’ve forgotten?”
Michael tries to recall his short conversation with Goddess.
“Ah, you’re right… You’ve talked to my previous lives before.”
Michael felt the invisible entity nod.
“Exactly. I’m well acquainted with you. If you stay here for a bit longer, you might remember some of your past lives.”
Before Michael could reply, he felt the atmosphere become serious.
“Michael. You died.”
A sigh comes out from the void.
“It means that my calculations with you failed. Which is a bummer by the way. I calculated that you would beat the Draco with a 74% chance.”
Michael felt surprised.
“Really? That high?”
Goddess nods.
“Yeah, but that meant horrendous physical damage. You would have lost an arm and a leg. You would have needed to depend on Evelyn for a few months but eventually, you would evolve, regenerating all the damage.”
Michael chuckles.
“Well, I guess I just rolled badly.”
Remembering how to control this state, Michael stands upright. While he didn’t have a body, this felt just right.
“So, what now?”
Reiterating his previous question, Michael waited for an answer. He hears another sigh.
“What happens now is bad news. Because of your awareness of me due to our first meeting, I can no longer support you.”
Michael felt confused.
“What do you mean by support?”
Goddess quickly replies.
“Reincarnation has a limit.”
There was a pause but before she could continue, Michael could feel an invisible pull.
“Oh, it seems time’s up.”
Michael frowns.
“Aren’t you omnipotent? Couldn’t you just ignore that pull?”
The voice laughs.
“Oh, Michael. The fact that you haven’t gone insane talking to me is proof that your soul is immensely exceptional. Probably the most powerful human soul I’ve ever seen. But no, I am not omnipotent. But I am immensely close to what you would define as omnipotent.”
Huh. God is not omnipotent?
“I heard that.”
Chuckling, Goddess continues.
“Despite my efforts, your soul is being dragged to the spirit realm. I can make you stay here if I wish but if I do so, it can damage your soul and that is something I absolutely wish to avoid. Michael, awaken your soul more so that you can become more aware of what’s happening around you.”
Michael felt confused.
“What do you mean by that?”
Goddess chuckled.
“If my estimates are right, you and a certain soul will be dropped in a dangerous part of the spirit realm… well to be honest, after the dark ages, no area of the spirit realm is safe for unawakened human souls.”
Just as Goddess finished the last part of the sentence, Michael felt that “pull” become stronger.
“Will I see Evelyn again?”
Michael felt the pull become exponentially stronger but through sheer force of will, he waited for Goddess’ answer.
“It’s up to you.”
Satisfied, Michael lets the pull take him.