In hindsight, it was not the best idea we had. But hell, none of us was thinking straight at that point. I want to say that it was all because of the mana in the air… It probably was for both of my companions, but I felt somewhat different.

My senses were not dulled so to say… I just was somehow very aware of everything. My surroundings were bright, and not thanks to the glow emitted by the two of us… or rather the three of us?

I had to blink and try to focus, because I swear, I started seeing things. It did not help.

It was getting brighter. I could clearly see that now each of us was emitting light, quite different from before… almost like…

-Anything seems different for you? - I asked Bert, hoping that at least he’s still conscious enough.

-Besides me being somewhat less drunk? Not reaaaaaa… - he stopped as he turned to face me.

-I assume that’s a yes. What are you seeing?

-Your eye…

That was not the answer I was expecting.

-What do you mean “my eye”?

-It’s glowing…

I gave him a perplexed look and looked towards one of the walls.

As I was turning, the light illuminating our surroundings followed as well, like a flashlight. I covered one of my eyes, and sure enough, the light disappeared.

I stared back at him, still covering my eye and had yet another discovery.

I could see the inside of my palm, like you’d normally could, yet also besides that I could see a faint image of him standing in front of me with Odar between us.

-Well fuck, if I was not weird looking by now, I for sure am now.

-This place is something else… Are you sure it’s a good idea to go further?

-Who said it’s a good idea? - I replied, blinking a couple of times, trying to focus on what I was seeing.

-We. Are. Going. Further.

It was Odar. He definitely was still feeling unwell, but his voice this time was strong and… somewhat different. More sober, for once, but also…

-Odar? You okay man? - Bert sounded concerned.

-I think he’s unconscious right now, so I decided to butt in for a while. Hello.

No wonder the voice sounded different.

-So THAT’S how he was keeping in contact. How is that even possible? - I said, staring at Odar, or rather the king Axelrod speaking through him with disbelief.

-Wait a second… Wha…

-Yes, that’s me. I don’t think there’s much time for details, but to be short, our magic’s are compatible enough.

-So you know everything we’ve done so far?

-Yes. Vividly. I know it’s not going to explain much but I was constantly sharing this body with Odar and keeping an eye on things. As you noticed, hats off to you for that. I want to say, good job so far.

I was not going to correct him on that - after all, I just made that up on the spot.

-Well, since you are here we at least won’t have to drag him along like a sack of potatoes…

-Not exactly. While indeed, I was intending on taking over completely, that's true… - he ignored the stunned looks we exchanged with each other - but this place is even inhibiting my magic. I have no clue what that might be, but you’d better proceed with caution. Right now, we are just an additional baggage. This body is still being controlled by Odar. Mostly. now.

-Which makes you even more useless… - I muttered, disappointed. - Can you at least use magic?

-Yes, but it’s risky. While we might be connected, it does not mean that I have the perfect control over his mana. That, and our current environment is also not very helpful.

-Damn… By the way, how far are you off? Maybe we can wait for the reinforcements?

-Or just go back! - perked up Bert.

-Ha. I didn’t have you for a bitch, man - I scoffed at him.

-Retreat is not an option. If we leave now, whatever is left down here will disappear completely.

-If they haven done that already…

-Probably. Besides that large mana source I can’t feel anything else. But that’s maybe just because it’s that powerful. In any case, we, or you, hard to tell how long I’m going to be able to stay here, need to investigate the source of all this. And report to me, if I’ll have to separate myself. Are we clear?

-And we are supposed just to glance over the fact that Odar has just been possessed by the current ruler of this kingdom? How about no? Maybe Mor can skim past this piece of information, but I am not moving until I at least get a decent explanation! - finally blew up Bert.

Well, he was under influence and the situation was not helping so I should’ve seen that coming. Not like I was not interested in that myself.

-As mentioned, it's not the time for this.

-You can still talk as we are moving, you know. For all we know it might just be one of those creatures that took over like in those corpses…

He said that, but he did not drop him, nor even stepped back.

-Fair enough. But, as you noticed, I do not have a large piece of vine piercing my brain, nor is there anything similar in the vicinity. If we are to be strict like this, we should be the ones that are suspicious.

-And why is that?

-You were almost possessed already, remember? - I reminded him. - But you’re right. This situation is unbelievable at best…

Even though I said that, for some reason as soon as I heard his voice, I felt more calm and steady. I also was able to think more clearly. It was strange.

Nevertheless, Bert did shut up and we started dragging ourselves along the corridor.

The humming got louder and louder and soon we arrived at a hard curve after which the tunnel was opening into a large cave, I want to say the size of a football field.

Even though I was thinking a lot clearer, it did not occur to me, nor to any of my companions, to not just waltz straight in without thinking nor even trying to peek out from behind cover before entering.

In hindsight, it was very fucking stupid and reckless, but to us it felt as we haven’t done anything wrong, but just remembering that makes my skin crawl. It also was weird that Axelrod didn’t even try to stop us either. What if one of those creatures was in there? What if that presence I felt was their leader, something akin to the large tangle I fought before?

But nope, that was not the case. There were no monsters. Better yet, we also found the source of the abundand mana density.

And it was something I never expected to see again.

It was a large magic crystal - very similar to the one we used to have in MIRE - powerful, big - let’s say about human-sized - and, what is most important, right in the middle of a leyline crossing. I didn’t even have to think twice, I was able to tell just by looking at it. And feeling its presence, that is.

But that’s where similarities ended.

While the one in the MIRE was of one singular color, this one… well, it looked like a patchwork. It was made out of many, many pieces of all the colors imaginable, some almost as small as a coin, while others, mostly green, red and blue pieces, as large as my head.

Stolen novel; please report.

All melded together into a strange, irregular mass, just smack right down in the middle of the cavern we entered, lighting up the place with the rainbow of colors, almost like an oversized disco ball.

But that’s not all. Right next to it there were two people, and familiar ones to boot: Melle and Il, lying there, lifeless, both leaning on the crystal.

-Mel!

It was the king. Or at least his voice. I still did not know how exactly that all two-in-one package worked. Even though he was barely even able to walk in Odar’s body, he managed to get out of our grasp and stagger towards the both of them.

For a second I wanted to stop him, I dunno, maybe because still in the back of my head I had the last remaining scraps of reason, but did not follow through with it, instead just walked slowly with Bert.

-Are they…?

-They are breathing. Thank the…

Odar-King was checking both of them for signs of life.

-Wake up! What happened?!

He tried shaking Melle awake, but without much success. The same with Il, although I doubted that even if she was awake that she would tell us anything.

-First things first. Let’s get them out of here. If any of you is an indication, the environment here can not be good for people.

-I still don’t get how you can just act like this is nothing - Bert muttered, but, as instructed, we came closer to try and pick both of them up.

It was not an easy task. While the kid was easy to deal with, Melle was not. Even with the three of us, or rather two, because even though Odar’s brain was working smoothly, or rather Axelrod’s, the body was not, so he wasn’t much help at all.

Besides him being a liability, I actually was finally starting feeling the effects of the prolonged mana influence, Bert had to mention it, damn it. But, weirdly, my symptoms were completely different from what the other two were experiencing.

True, I was slowing down as well, and my body felt heavy, but while they had a hard time keeping focus or just were completely disoriented, I, on the other hand, felt like I could see more and more, my senses being sharper than ever.

It was a bit problematic. I did notice it before, the glows around my companions and overall the brighter surroundings, but I attributed it to the light that was emitted by either me, the bow or the crystal in the vicinity. I could now tell that I was mistaken.

Sure, all those things were actually emitting some kind of light, but nothing as bright as I was seeing myself. And also not that unfamiliar. It was just as my magic sense got melded with my regular vision - or at least half of it. I could see the flaming auras of everyone in the room, including two faint ones of the women on the ground. Their state sort of looked similar to Bert when he was suppressed by that weird vine not too long ago, which did not give me much confidence about their health, but that was secondary, not like I could compare the vision that I currently had to the actual magic sense I was using before.

What caught my attention though was the aura of the crystal in the middle of the room. It was not as overwhelming as before, instead being more defined. I could see the different colors swirl inside the crystal, moving like flowing bubbles inside. Somewhat similar to a massive lava lamp, albeit a lot faster, and also accompanied by the hum, which also got stronger and stronger. None of my companions even mentioned the noise getting louder so I had to assume it was just me who started hearing it better.

Even more weird, the hum slowly started changing tone and distorting.

As at that moment I was pretty close to the crystal, I noticed that it wasn’t just it - the crystal was also vibrating to the tone, like a strange tuning fork. And like a tuning fork, the crystal embedded within me started to reply in kind - synchronizing with the sound and vibration.

It was the weirdest feeling in the world - my own body starting to resonate along with it. I can’t really explain the feeling, but it was not just my crystalized body - I was shaken to the core, my teeth and bones rattling in the rhythm of the large piece of rock.

It wasn’t hard for everyone else to notice that something was wrong - especially when I was one of the light sources in the cave.

-What the fuck…

Bert looked at me, dazzled. The vibrations now were giving me a hard time to even stay up straight, not to mention even trying to help him move Melle away from it. Trying to keep my balance I grabbed onto the first thing that was not just a person right next to me.

That was a mistake. Or maybe the best decision of my life. Well, hard to call it a decision, since I did it subconsciously - trying not to kiss the floor I grabbed onto the large crystal, and my vision suddenly went pure white.

To be completely honest, it was not just my vision. I felt like all of my senses experienced the same thing at once - pure white and shock, somewhat similar to being electrocuted, although surprisingly without pain.

The blankness then got immediately replaced by a series of flashing images and colors - people, animals, plants, places even - everything flooded my mind in an instant.

In between the random garble of faces and locations I saw Axelrod, Odar, Jacob, For, Melle and Il, Red Edge, Arbo, Kruro, Kalkano…

But that was not what surprised me the most. Along all this mess, I also saw the places and people from my life before all this. Mike, Ilma, the city we lived in, our research center…

Still not weird enough for you? Well, that’s not all. As those images flashed through my head, I couldn't help but feel something else. Another presence. And not just some creature or one of those monsters that probably were lurking somewhere in the darkness - no. Something strangely familiar.

My friend’s faces had taken me aback, but the real shocker came right after. When I saw those images, I felt that strange presence almost mimicked my feelings - I can’t really tell how, but I just knew that it also was stunned and surprised. The reaction maybe was not completely identical, but the sentiment was there.

I pulled myself back from the crystal, trying to focus my thoughts and understand what I just saw, but as I was removing my hand, a single sentence suddenly appeared in my mind.

-Who are you?

That was too much for me to handle. With this overwhelming amount of stimuli going through my head I just straight up fell backwards and lied there for a second, in complete silence.

-What the hell?

I realized that I was not the only one lying flat on the ground. Bert stretched out right next to me, looking as confused as I was.

-What did you do?! - yelled Axelrod from behind me, but I was not paying attention - Are we safe? Did you kill it?

At first I did not understand what he was talking about. We have not done anything, quite the opposite, for some reason the crystal reacted to us, or at least to me. I couldn’t really tell if Bert had the same vision. I wanted to ask him what he saw, but then I noticed that something was wrong.

We were now in complete silence. And I meant it.

For some reason, the crystal stopped humming. What’s more interesting though, was that the light of the crystal also faded quite a bit. It was still present and all, but now instead of brightly lightning up our surroundings, it turned into a small spark.

It was jumping from one place to another, making the light turn different colors, sometimes stopping in one place for a bit longer, just to start jumping even faster.

-It… talks…?

Ah, so he did “hear” it as well…

-I don’t understand… What do you want from me?!

Uh-oh.

Bert suddenly slumped down and fell on the ground, limp and unmoving.

-Bert?

I guess the environment finally got to him, overwhelming even his weapon. Not good.

-What are you?

I heard the question again, although this time, for some reason, I had a feeling that it was not directed at me, but at Axelrod.

At first he just looked confused and intrigued, but then another sentence hit our minds.

-You are him and also are not. Explain.

-I don’t understand!

He suddenly grabbed his head in pain, falling on the ground.

-What’s going on?!

I wanted to help him stand up, but as I stepped closer, he suddenly jumped back.

He was clearly panicking and not recognizing me. I never expected that after him.

And no wonder, because it was not Axelrod any more. It was just Odar, screaming his head off. I could tell after his voice.

-No! Stay away! I don’t understand, what do you want from me?! - he yelled in an octave I didn’t think he was capable of.

-Not him. Disappointing.

Another sentence hit my mind. This time, it was accompanied with an emotion that made me second guess myself - it was sadness.

Soon his screams faded though, and he, just like every other person in the room, fainted and stopped moving. As the silence again filled the room, the crystal started humming once more and the shimmering lights came back, lightning up the cave.

-Am I being ignored? - I muttered quietly to myself, still slightly woozy thanks to my strange new vision.

Whatever that was, the presence was for some odd reason not interested in me. For a second I didn't know what to do. Would it react somehow if I tried moving any of those people out? Would it stop me? Or does it just not care?

If it does though, can I somehow retaliate? I guess having witnesses removed worked in my favor, so I would be able to use any element I wanted, but should I? First off all, I was overcharged, so any spell I would use most likely would be unstable at best.

Should I run then? I probably would be fine. So far, even after touching the crystal, I was just ignored, so if I was to back out, it’d probably be fine, right?

I am going to be brutally honest, I really, really wanted to do that. Just leave this place, leave those people behind and start anew. I had no witnesses, besides the king, and judging from what happened here, there was also a chance that even he did not escape unscathed. I could easily slip out and disappear, no traces, just go back to the coast and get into my hidden boat. Maybe go back to Jack’s inn and island.

But, for some odd reason, I couldn’t get myself to do it.

I had no feelings for those people, yet somehow… something was not letting me leave two of them behind… not again.

Again? What the hell? Where did that come from?

But I did disappear on them, it’s not fair.

Okay, now it’s getting weird. It’s like I was arguing with myself over something that never happened.

Wait. With myself? Those were definitely not my thoughts, yet I could clearly hear them like they were mine.

I’m not leaving her with some imposter of his. That’s not going to happen.

If they are not mine, whose then? There’s no one left conscious besides me and…

Just give me a minute and I’ll somehow contain myself… I know it’s hard to be awake in this kind of environment… I know, it’s my fault. I never thought you have that weak constitution…

…and the crystal.