Chapter 98

A Second Time to Make a First Impression

  There standing on the landing dock for the Endarian Fleet, I realize a few things. First, I realize that this is my second time coming to this fourteenth universe. Then in that same thought, I realize that for the second time I got here by a random portal opening and my disabled ship floating through. Granted last time there was an extra hop that I had to make after coming to and maneuvering around a destroyed world. But still the final result was the same, I still ultimately ended up here after the same set of circumstances.

  The fact that this was the fourteenth universe was unquestionable, as there were too many signs that I had already been here. First there was my bun in the oven of Rayquel. By bun I of course mean part of my soul. Just as I can feel her soul within me as well. Honestly, I don’t quite know how I feel about that. Here we are effectively linked by our souls, and yet I have never met this person. I haven’t, right?

  Just out of an abundance of caution, I test my concerns by making Revelation Sight go from passive to active.

  Nothing.

  I even make sure to do a large sweep of the deck, only to find that no one here is a Celestial. Nor are they a Herald, but I don’t need this ability to be in active mode to get that.

  This of course brings me back to square one. I am stuck here with someone who has part of my soul, and I have never met them. I don’t know them at all, and I feel rather odd with my back still being extremely cold. While this deck is heated, it is apparently assumed that everyone here will have a completely intact space suit.

  We all stand there awkwardly for a few minutes. Or what feels like minutes. I know while I am using my abilities to scan them, they are likely using the same abilities to scan me.

  Finally, I decide to break the tension.

  “So, anyone read any good web novels recently?”

  Silence.

  I am about to follow up with my personal preferences, but Rayquel beats me to the punch.

  “How did we…” She says we as she points first to herself, then to me, then back to herself again. “End up getting pair bonded.”

  I am about to answer, but then I realize stop myself.

  “Well, first off how much do you know about the Celestials and Prolaxian Heralds and their war to fuck over all existence?”

  Everyone looks like I just said I attend church naked. I don’t, not anymore. That was a onetime thing, where I went on a dare. There was only one female, the head priestess, and the rest were all old dudes who went to gawk at her. Yeah, I lost a lot of faith in humanity, and myself, that day.

  Fortunately, Wizard me cuts in to save the day.

  “I know of the Prolaxians, but I’m confused about the Herald part.” Wizard me states.

  I turn to look at him, and man he is even making me look bad with how terrible he looks. Out of sympathy I run through the gambit of spells on him. Purge, Cleanse, and Heal are all cast in rapid succession. It doesn’t do much, but at least now I can say I tried.

  “So, the Prolaxians, the little space goblin amoeba monsters that come through portals. They all have seven generals that are hidden in the universe. This one should only have five generals remaining, along with one lead general, the Puppet master. They are in a war against the Celestials, whose sole job is to go around and make life difficult for us. At least that is what I have gathered to this point.” I pause as I turn to Rayquel.

  “Last time I was here, a Celestial used a trinket on us, to get us pair bonded.” I say, doing the same back and forth pointing gesture that Rayquel had used on me a moment ago.

  After hearing this, Rayquel’s face drops as she tries to take in the information. It is so odd seeing her do the same exact expressions that the Celestial Rayquel used to make while puppeting her body.

  Seeing her move, I almost wonder if there could be something between us, if we just tried. Then I quickly shake my head, realizing this is like the type of forced emotional response that would come from the pair bond. The bond that has made us into one conjoined soul. That is when I remember my hatred for the Celestials in this as well. They make us prisoners to our emotions, making it so we cannot even have our own thoughts without wondering if they are being influenced by external forces. That is part of why I went to Jess. In all my lifetimes, she is the only constant I had. She is the only one I truly felt that I belonged with, every step of the way.

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  I look to Wizard me and add. “That’s when you were also pair bonded with the Jess of this universe.”

  “Yes, I know…” He says, in that arrogant way that just makes me want to punch myself in the face, well his face, my fist. Do I look and sound like this guy?

  Wizard me looks at me in confusion for a moment, but then asks. “Are you actually the same Kyle Goldman that came here last time? I remember you being well different?” He states.

  It takes me a minute, as I know for a fact, I didn’t get the wings until later. But that is when I remember the fact that the wings weren’t the only thing I changed. I also got rid of the glowing eyes and hair.

  “Right, I found a way to blend in since then.” I state.

  Hearing that, Wizard me just nods. Then points to the violin case by my side. “You still have the violin case?”

  “Yeah, with the same violin I got from here last time.” I add.

  Then before I let this get too awkward, I check out my ship and realize that while it is not exactly a cracked windshield like last time. There are clearly breaches to the hull that would make driving this vehicle more dangerous. I wonder if I should have gone with the electric lime green-shoot-me-now three-seater, but then thought better of that. That ship would have been far too large of a target during battle. Also, that was my civilian vessel, one that the warranty expressly states will not cover damage caused by acts of war.

  I nod, as there is an awkward tension that fills the hanger.

  “Well, I guess I will be going. Time to undo this pair bonding, then get back to my universe. There is a war going on, after all.” I state as I am about to cast Total Recall. Since I am here, it will be an easy enough task to find my residual psychic resonance that is on General Fellina, or General Tigran as she is known here. Gods, that is another thing that I do not like about this place, all the different names for the same people.

  “Wait!” Wizard me shouts as they lunge forward trying to get my attention.

  I pause and stare at the man, who by his own actions is now making me look bad. I just raise an inquisitive, are you serious, eyebrow.

  Silence.

  Just before I am about to speak and add more awkward tension to this random meeting, he speaks.

  “I need you to fix Jess.” Hearing his voice, the pain in his voice, it does something to me.

  “What happened?” I ask.

  Wizard me takes in a deep annoyed breath, then answers in two words. “My brother.”

  He is about to continue, but I hold up a hand as I think I see where this is going.

  “Right, I fixed him the first time through, so you didn’t see his actions. Then let me guess, there was a reset, and you two remained aware?”

  He nods, so I continue.

  “Then the second time through he went and did his mind alterations?” I ask.

  “Yes, then those alterations stayed when the timeline restarted again.” Wizard me starts, but then pauses. “The only problem was, with it being reset she was forced to love someone who she had never actually met. This apparently caused a mental collapse of her mind, leaving her in a coma. That was when General Tigran said we should reach out to you.”

  At the mention of the General’s name, a chill runs down my back. “Wait. So, the General knows I am here?” I ask.

  “Yes, she is the reason so many resources were gathered to open the portal.” Rayquel adds, apparently not wanting to be left out of the conversation.

  Hearing this, I can’t help but feel that there is more to this plot than simple altruism. The General must know for a fact what I am capable of, as that is why Rayquel is now Celestial free. That must mean she has something planned, but what?

  Suddenly I don’t think I like the idea of being here. It feels like I am part of a final plot that is about to go horribly wrong for me. I mean, why would the General want me here, especially if she knew my whole purpose for coming here was to erase her and the acts she conducted while she was here? Surely, she knows that I will stop at nothing to end this pair bond between myself and Rayquel. So, what is her goal? What does she have planned for all of this? The General Tigran I know, is far more resourceful than just letting me come here to undo her schemes. She must have an ulterior motive, but I can’t quite fathom what that motive is, and that scares me.

  That brings me to my next question, “where exactly is the general?”

  At that, many of the faces drop.

  “She is not doing that well.” Rayquel is the first to speak.

  Suddenly I am reminded of how Mel, well Mel’s second incarnation looked when I was aware of her existence. She had been on life support, and by the end it was a mercy for me to fully reveal her. To think that the General was suffering in much the same way, and likely for a lot longer, said something about her personal fortitude. That alone was almost enough to give me a slight feeling of respect for the Celestial. That is, if it wasn’t for her being the root of the problem between us and the Prolaxians. The fact that she clearly used her power on me, an outsider to this universe was not lost on me. I realize she likely only meant to join Wizard me and Jess with the pair bond. The fact that I happened to be here and was able to get swept up in the same power play likely was a bonus. One that the General couldn’t pass up. Then I ask myself if I would be any different if I were in her shoes. Would I be any different as a leader? Wouldn’t I also use all resources available to me to win a battle for the universe?

  I know for a fact I would, have, and will do so again. At least that is what the memories of my past lives tell me.

  “…So will you, do it?” Wizard me asks.

  Suddenly I realize he was talking for a while and I just kind of drowned him out. To my defense, it is hard to focus with my own inner monologue, and Wizard me talking with effectively the same voice. The only difference being that my inner voice is worth listening to, while Wizard me is just well worth punching.

  “What?” I ask, shaking my head.

  Seeing this Wizard me, looks agitated, but then before he can reply back. Rayquel cuts him off.

  “Will you be able to help our Jess?” Rayquel asks.

  “Oh, that. Yeah sure. Though I would like to speak to our dear older brother first.” I say as a malicious grin fills my face.

  Seeing the look, a look of pain crosses Wizard me’s face. “Sadly, that will not fix anything.”

  “Oh, that is fine. I don’t intend to fix anything with him anyways. Instead, I intend to break him, before I fix your Jess.” I state.

  “I don’t think we can…”

  “That is my condition. Let me mentally neuter our brother, or I walk.” This of course was a lie. I would help this universe’s Jess regardless of circumstance. I just wanted to see how fast I could get about correcting the problem that was my brother. Practice makes perfect, after all.

  “Fine. I’ll take you to him. Just realize he is still out running freely in this universe.” Wizard me states morosely.

  “Oh, don’t worry about that. That only helps to make this even better.” I say, as a malicious grin crosses my face.

  “Come on, I’ll drive you all.” Rayquel states.

  I take one look at her, then remember her piloting from the last time. I also realize she was being puppeted at the time and should likely give this Rayquel the benefit of the doubt, but I can’t.

  At least I knew the old me couldn’t. Still, I want to see how different the real Rayquel is from the person who puppeted her. With her as my test case. I decided to go with it.

  I was about to follow Rayquel into a three-person ship that looked surprisingly like the one I won at Wango Tango, when I realized one thing.

  “Something the matter?” Rayquel asks.

  “Yeah, is there any way I can get a new space suit. Mine seems to have sprung a leak.” I say as I point to the open slits on the back of my suit.