Chapter 11
Divinity in a Cup
She walked, and I silently followed, and into the wooden house, we went.
With a small creak, she opened the door with her small hand while pulling mine with the other.
“Welcome to the house Adam,” she said with a childish smile.
The house was pretty much like a hunter’s cabin. Two levels, old furniture made of wood and fur, and stone fireplace with a steaming pot in the middle of it.
From the nearby wooden walls, the old TV from my house was hung up facing the same comfy couch, but what really caught my eyes, are the dozens of framed paintings all over the walls.
One of the paintings portrayed me holding Galavie by the throat before killing him, another showed the figure of the naked ryola floating in the air, with me staring at her with bright blue glowing eyes, another of Mahaar kneeling to me, swearing fealty at my anxious face.
“Did you draw all that?” I said to the little girl who’s now mixing something in the boiling pot, probably my coffee.
“Nope,” she nonchalantly replied, “you did”
“I did?”
“Yes!”
I didn’t elaborate, I had a billion questions more important than this one anyway.
When I tried opening my mouth again, a sound of a crying infant cut me off, and the girl stormed off the stairs after dropping the wooden spoon into the pot.
I curiously followed upstairs into a room so huge it didn’t fit the size of the house, cradles scattered in every corner, I counted thirteen.
“Girl, what is tha-”
“Come on, I just changed your diaper, you sure are a troublesome fellow, Asura” pouted the girl with a slight giggle and an innocent motherly smile, looking at the baby Grokati in the cradle, its countless arms flailing everywhere, the tears on its cheeks were drying, with a toothless smile replacing the crying face as soon as it saw the girl’s face.
Holding the meter-long baby in her arms, she started swaying her hands while singing a lullaby in a language I didn’t understand, but I caught a word or two, it sounded like the language Mahaar spoke to me when we first met before Cordi started translating.
The baby slowly closed his round golden eyes, fading away into the land of dreams.
“Let’s go downstairs,” whispered the girl, tucking down the sleeping baby almost her size back into its cradle.
This baby looks heavy as hell, where does she find the strength to hold it like it was nothing?
“Wait! What is this? What are these cradles?” I hissed back, questioning her for the weird sight of the room.
“This is the room where your generals are kept and taken care of until they grow up”
“What?”
“Shhh! let's go downstairs my dear, I don’t want it to wake up again, as you can see, his crying is so loud” she pointed at the door, urging me to drop the subject and head back to the lower floor.
In a square table, I sat across the girl, looking into her black eyes with a stern look.
“Okay, ask away” she finally broke the silence, signaling me to start my question bombardment.
“Where’s my coffee?” I asked for the beverage I craved for more than 1500 years... technically speaking.
“Really Adam? All this shouting, cursing, events you can’t explain, near death experiences, and your first question is about coffee?” The girl raised an eyebrow, alluding at my stupidity.
I didn’t mind the slight blush of embarrassment forming on my face and went on with the real questions.
“Who are you?” I started with the most important question in my mind, wanting answers about the enigma sitting across me.
"That's more like it" she jeered, her face turning serious.
Two tiny white spots lit in the middle of her black eyes. The air suddenly became tighter, making me slightly dizzy, her voice turned thick and otherworldly. She spoke in a language I didn’t know, but I understood every single word.
“I am the beginning, I am the end
I am the breath of life, the embrace of death
I am the night’s light, the day’s darkness
I am everything, I am nothing
I am perfection, I am defection
I am limitless joy, I am endless agony - “
I fell from the chair, gasping for air, my head felt like it was trapped in a vice. My muscles tensed and started convulsing. I was conscious, but it felt like I was getting closer to my end, the girl didn’t pay any attention to me and continued with an emotionless look on her face
“I am the mother who devours her own children, giving birth others.
I am the gentle crusher, the compassionate ender, the tender destroyer.
I am the road humans once walked on in their journey to divinity.
I am your partner, queen, lover, mother, worshipper, and your own personal creation-”
Foam started to form in my mouth, air refused to invite itself into my lungs, I was dying yet every part of my being was directed to the girl for some reason I couldn’t explain, not minding the crumbling house nor the screams of the animals outside.
“I am power, desire, kindness, rage, inspiration, fear, sadness, trust, lust, disgust, shame, envy, I am … pity, among everything a human have ever felt-
I am the mind guardian, The Tractus. I am YOU, Lord Primus, Emperor of the known universe, Lord of the Numen, Keeper of the cycles, Commander of the Zodiacs, Ender of the eternal darkness, Conqueror of loneliness, and Giver of life”
she ended her cheesy yet brutal introduction, her eyes quickly went back to its original deep black and glanced at what remained of me.
“Oppsie! I guess I went too far, I am sorry my dear. It’s as I thought, looks like you’re not ready yet” she got off her chair and picked me up, putting me back into my chair. It was like my soul was shoved back into my body like nothing happened to me in the past few moments. Her voice is back to its original form of a child. The house is back to normal and the screams were no more.
I stared at her with dim eyes indicated by the blurry vision before wiping my saliva-covered mouth, and after a few minutes catching my ragged breath from whatever she did during her speech, I finally spoke.
“Y-You... Are me?”
“Yes, I am you. Well, part of you”
“Y-you mean like, you’re my brain?”
“No silly, this is your brain” she spread her arms, pointing everywhere around us.
“What?”
“Adam, you were never the dumb person you are now. I understand what I did might have shocked the current you a little, but that doesn’t mean you “what?” everything I say, calm down and think properly, like you always did” a rare frown wore the girl, with a look indicating that I am the most stupid person ever sat foot in the universe.
After a few second of me digesting the few words we exchanged, I listed down what I understood so far. Unlike what she just said, I never considered myself as a stupid person, hell, sometimes I don’t even believe in the word “stupidity”.
“So, you’re not my brain, but another “organ” I created that is attached to my brain! That organ has its own conscious, and I’m not crazy. This place we’re in is my own mind, it doesn’t really exist anywhere in the world. I am some kind of big shot called Primus that lived in the past and lost his memory, and I created you, sorry, but damn I must have gone insane from all the shit that happened tonight”
“No Adam, you’re not crazy. Everything that happened so far is real, even your dreams were real. Well, it's not exactly dreaming, you can call them … memories of the past you, and you weren’t a big shot, you were THE shot, the biggest shot” stated the girl with her usual playful giggle
“Girl, I’m still confused, who am I then?”
“Ugh! Screw this. You know what, I think it’s time you have your coffee, one moment” sulked the girl while moving to the pot and pouring me a large cup of coffee.
What she just said didn’t really make sense, but thinking about everything that happened, I started mentally forming more questions for her, thinking that eventually, I will understand what she was trying to imply.
“Here, enjoy” she handed me the cup with a sly grin on her face.
I tensed for a moment, thinking that she put something in the coffee, but if what she said was true, this was my mind, and she did seem like my ally.
“Girl, do you have a name?” I asked her, but there was no answer, only a slight gesture from her to drink my coffee
I sniffed the cup, it was the familiar smell of coffee, the addict inside me jumped in joy, so I didn’t waste any time and slowly took a sip, savoring every drop of the brown liquid of happiness, not minding that I nearly died minutes ago,
And the world turned over again.
I was in a battlefield, leading an army of humans, fighting off some small thin black-horned creatures, countless red hooked chains coming out of their chests.
The creatures were so ugly and disgusting to look at, some of the soldiers were even throwing up just from the sight of them.
Screams of my soldiers echoed everywhere, the black creatures were pointing the hooks at my army, and as soon as a hook touches one, the soldier instantly turned hostile, attacking his or her nearest comrade like a mindless husk.
One after one, my army fell, brother killing brother, father killing daughter, husband killing wife. The disgusting smell of death filled the air while I stood there motionless, not knowing what to do in this hopeless battle.
I saw several of the survivors running back at me, protecting me from the hooks, falling one after another like a domino with muffled screams, urging me to leave and fight another day, dragging me away with eyes full of bloody tears.
The memory faded and I found myself at some kind of an underground laboratory, looking at some yellow substance floating in a crystal-clear liquid, I stared at the tank holding the substance in determination. It was a weapon, a weapon that can fend off the invincible black creatures which nearly drove my people to extinction.
Everything turned white, indicating that the memory is no more, replaced by another scene of another battlefield. Mountains of corpses littered the land from both sides, the weapon was working, but it wasn’t perfect, but we held back the creatures nonetheless.
I was back at another lab, holding something like a syringe containing the yellow substance like it was the most precious object in the universe before slamming it into the back of my head and losing consciousness.
Back to the battle I went, but this time, we were pushing the creatures back, their hooks were held off most of the time, my soldiers looked different, the backs of their heads were much bigger, I felt my head where I injected the substance to find that my head is even bigger. The new weapons were a major success this time.
Another memory jumped over, taking place before my eyes. I rode a mighty black beast across the lonely dark space, purging the black creatures across the universe, but they were too much to end in even several lifetimes. Endless battles took place, and although we were outnumbered, we were crushing the creatures with our new upgraded weapons, but they were still too much.
In a blink, I found myself in a penthouse of a building so tall I couldn’t even count its floors, looking over vast flourishing lands. I looked back to see humans looking at me with eyes full of hope and admiration, I gave them some orders and they quickly faded, along with the memory.
I found myself standing on the familiar hill, looking at my mighty army of humans. In the frontlines were twelve scientist-looking individuals in lab coats holding babies in swaddles, they approached me one by one, bowing down and presenting their creations, to be only met with an acknowledging nod of satisfaction from me. I focused as hard I can, but I couldn’t see the figures of the babies, except one, the gray golden-eyed baby with countless arms.
That memory was no more, but another one instantly came after. I was riding my mighty winged black beast across space, thirteen figure stood behind me, joining me in my peaceful view over my empire spanning over galaxies beyond counting. I turned around but still couldn't make out the figures clearly, in their kneeling position in front of me, only one figure my eyes could identify, a mighty golden-eyed giant with ten arms with a gold and platinum mixture across his torso, and a yet another set of arms of endless numbers floating and whirling like flower petals behind his wide back. He looked back at me, a familiar wide grin across his round face.
Stolen story; please report.
My last memory of me standing atop of a spinning metallic cube in space, staring at a set of black veiny planets, I held my open palm in front of me and closed it as if I was crushing something. The planets instantly blew up, black liquid substance seeped out of its cores, floating in the opposite direction like it was running away from me.
I patted my head twice and a woman of unmatched elegance materialized beside me, her eyes were dark as death yet shining like a bright star, her long hair was a mixture of black and white, floating around like gravity shied away from touching it, her face was the embodiment of beauty itself, black perky lips, a delicate nose, and big brilliant eyes that could pull the universe into it with a glance.
She wore a black dress that showed her magnificent curves, a black necklace wrapped itself around her long neck, needlessly adding to her dazzling splendor.
“E-” I tried calling her name, but her long delicate finger slid across my lips, before being replaced by a pair of lips, pressing itself into mine, then everything was gone, I was back again in the wooden cabin.
“EVE!” I wheezed in disbelief, looking at the smiling black lips across the table.
“At your service, Lord Primus”
“W-Was that real?”
“Like the sun on a scorching hot day my dear”
“I, I really made you!”
“Yes, my dear, you made me like you made others, but I was always the special one” she replied with a wink, followed by her playful giggle.
“What was those black creatures?”
“You used to call them demons, devils, reapers, enders, mind eaters, and many other names”
“But what did they want, why were they slaughtering us like that?”
“That! is for you to uncover Adam, that was only a glimpse of your past self, and over time, as you regain your lost memories, everything will become much clearer”
she moved her wrist as if looking at an invisible watch “and it looks like we’re out of time here, be sure to come back soon, sometimes if feels kinda lonely here, if not for that TV here, I would have gone mad, kehehe”
she paused for a second as if she suddenly remembered something “Oh, I think you might want to visit the nearest cube, it has something that might be useful to you on your journey. Also, the blue worm called Mekshima is probably there too as that mite over there said in the interrogation” she pointed her chin at the direction where the remains of Shipol’s corpse lies.
“Wait! I still hav-”
“Goodbye my dear, see you soon, khehehehe” my vision darkened as her giggle faded, I was lying on a soft floor in some damp room.
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I slowly opened my eyes to find my companion staring me down in concern.
“Ash, where's Arty?” I asked him spontaneously, but it only added to his confusion.
He blinked several times like he didn’t have an idea of what I just blurted.
Why the hell did I just say that?
“Mahaar, how long have I been out?” I asked the puzzled Grokati crouching over my lying figure.
“A few minutes Adam” replied Mahaar after a second of thinking.
“Adam, Y-Your head, it looks weird” he continued with a slightly raised brow.
I felt the back of my head with my hand, only to find it slightly bigger
Holy shit! This is just like the dream. I wonder if my head will eventually look like a cucumber as I saw in the memory. Fuck it, I don’t care anymore. It can’t get any weirder anyway. Now, what the hell is that?
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*** a few moments earlier - Somewhere near Planet Saturn ***
< “Mama. Me. Tired. Need. Help. Function”>
<” Requesting Identification”> <”Me. Mama. Do. Not. Remember. Name”> <” Mama. Me. Miss. You. Much”> <” Sorry. Mama. Me. Cannot. Merge. Primus. Orders”> <” Requesting additional data. Keywords: Mama, Primus, Primus_Orders”> <”Me. No. Adh-”> <” Look. Mama. Me. Feel. Primus. Back. Ask. Be. One. Again”> ---------------------------------------- *** Adam POV *** Strange organs, wires, intestines, tubes, and muscles swam between large heavy black bones, covered by a solid transparent glass-like material like lava covered by black magma. The hard glass was expanding, crawling over everything around, and almost covering all the meaty walls, floors, and ceilings. “Cordi? “I was a little disturbed by the gruesome sight, why would inner walls have this electronic meat inside of it. An instant reply came from the AI. “This is the interior of the ship Adam, its inner bio-cybernetic organs. you won't see this sight for long, as it is covering itself with the multi-functioning crust layer” “How do you know all that” I curiously questioned her knowledge of the dragon-like ship that sucked us whole. “Most bioships get some form of these material installed in it right after birth, but this is the first time I registered a ship that could do it on its own, let alone being a pure techno-organic ship without any outer intervention” “Adam, the ship will not allow me to access its data, stating that it needs certain orders from someone it called Primus, which is probably you, so I would like to have access to the ship’s mainframe to help it navigate and also make sure it doesn't possess any danger now, or in the future” I strolled around for a bit ignoring the AI's request for now, running my hands over the flat glossy glass, it felt so hard and reinforced yet polished and luxurious. I reached the end of the hall, a door that looked like a vertical pair of lips, not yet covered by the creeping glass, the door opened in a speed I didn't expect, allowing me a pass to the next room which I identified as the ship’s bridge from the fascinating unobstructed starry view. I was expecting monitors and buttons like the ones I always saw in movies, but the bridge room was basically a slightly larger empty room with a large window. The only interface I could find is a table still in its meat form, building itself slowly into something with a weird shape, I turned my head to the woman in colored robe across the room. Ryola stood near the edge of the room, staring into the boundless space, holding her ancient weapon in a hug. We should probably find her a new armor instead of that ugly shit she's wearing. I wonder how she’s holding up now? “Ryola” I called out for her, snatching her attention away from the mesmerizing scene. She gently turned her head, her deep red lips and crimson eyes, her pinkish beautiful face are all full of life. The doll mask she always wore is all but crumbled into dust, she was normal again. Or at least that I thought She unexpectedly put down her precious weapon down and took slow steps in my direction until she was only a breath away from my face. She raised both her hands and held my cheeks. Oh! Boy, she’s gonna kiss me, or crack my neck I thought nervously as blood rushed up to my cheeks in a hesitant blush. Matching my height, she stood on her toes and printed a warm kiss on my forehead, keeping her lips stuck to my head for several seconds before letting go, I thought it was a Laireen tradition or something. “Thank you, Adam,” The pleasant smell of her breath blew against my forehead before she let go and took a step backward. “Glad you’re feeling better now,” I said with a warm smile, looking at the captivating pair of crimson eyes. “Yes,” She agreed with a higher pitch like she was gonna cry, her watery eyes struggling to keep tears at bay. Sad hum can be heard coming out of the weapon across the window. “Ryola. You don’t have to say anything” I knew she was as good as dead if I let her go, Mekshima looked like the kind who doesn’t like loose ends, but I had to meet him again, and high-five his face with my fist, several times. I also intended to get her missing strange eye back if it existed somewhere. “Ryola, where is Mekshima?” I tried changing the mood while doing a small test for her honesty. “Andromeda, Cube 61, at the penthouse of the Noran tower” she quietly answered, “But he’s under heavy protection, escorted by his personal team of cosmic controllers” The weapon behind her started buzzing with its hostile sound again for no reason, I was intrigued, but I knew what to do. I gently stepped past the woman, and walked towards the weapon, extending my hand to grab it. “What are you doi-” Ryola voice failed to get past my half ears. “Child, stop!” it finally spoke, warning me from making any contact with it “Child my ass, I’m 1500” I sneered as I grabbed the weapon. ---------------------------------------- *** ??? *** In a temple erected on top of a limitless mountain that made the clouds below looks like tiny patches of cotton, I stood in front of a thirty-meter giant old Asian man in shackles. He kneeled in a seiza position, his hand tied behind him in an unnatural angle, thick black chains covered him from neck to toe, leaving only his ancient wrinkled face and ragged old white beard. “H-How? How did you get here?” asked the old man in awe with a disbelieving wide purple eye. “I’m special” I replied with a dumb confident grin on my face, I had no idea how I got here, or how to get out. “No living creature other than the chosen Laireen have ever touched me and lived, that is …” “I guess my soul is a bit stubborn, hehe. Anyway, nice to meet you in person XA-0” “Please! Zao is fine, and thank you for everything you did to the poor child, she has suffered more than anyone I have ever witnessed” “My pleasure Zao, tell me, why are you shackled like that with these weird black chains?” “I, am sealed” “By whom?” I raised an eyebrow, who’d even crazy enough to even touch that giant? “Ryola” a sorrowful reply with a sad tone found its way out of the giant’s mouth. “Eh?” I spat, my confusion intensifying. He immediately understood and started telling me their story. “The day she got robbed of her eye forcefully, these wretched shackles appeared in my realm, imprisoning me in my own temple suppressing my power. Her memories stolen, her body dying from the curse you lifted. Whoever did it, he did not want her for long. All while I’m trapped here, powerless to help the wielder I chose” The old man explained with a sad voice that didn’t match his graceful status. “Who did that, Zao? And how can I break this seal?” I threw more questions as my blood boiled in anger at this cruelty, everything within me screamed “Mekshima”, but I had to make sure. “I have no memory of these events since my conscious is linked to my wielder, but I certainly know how to be free again, both me and the Laireen” “Find the inner eye, my child, it contains the answer we seek, the power we lost, and the memories that were drained” The mountain started to shake around us, implying that was something wrong was happening “I think it’s time for you to go now child, please don’t give up on my little Laireen” “Like hell I will” an instantaneous reply sprung out of me, driven by the accumulated anger I had for the Noran lord. “Old man, h-how do I get out of here?” A quiet laugh rang across the mountain, and I found myself back at the ship. ---------------------------------------- Trying to balance myself on the shaky glass floor, a loud shrill of pain echoed throughout the ship. “Adam, we are under attack. Eight cruisers, three corvettes, and one destroyer class ships. The ship’s hull is heavily damaged” Cordi’s welcomed me back with the news of my dragon getting murdered. “How come? Why didn’t it suck everything like it did before?” “It used all the power it had to escape the planet, warping us near the outer borders of planet Saturn, also it seems like it did not have any prior experience in space combat and navigation” “Adam, please allow me to access the mainframe, I might be able to navigate us away to safety” I wasn’t sure I could trust the AI with the ship, I started imagining the worst situations that could happen until I was interrupted by drops of blood trickling on my head from the ceiling, the creature was really dying. “DO IT” I mentally screamed at her in a wave of panic, with a physical one coming on top of my lungs “SHIP, ALLOW HER ACCESS” ---------------------------------------- *** Cordi’s POV *** <” Mama. Me. Happy. Tell. Primus. Sorry. Me. Failed”> <...> <” Goodbye. Mama”> <...> <...> <...> <#&*!?(#> <...> <...> <&!@Incoming. &#Error@( Signal &Error#> <” Last time I help you, shitty Empress”> In the endless void, the mechanical eyes opened again. Widening in a frown of extreme exasperation, the golden cogs spinning fiercely, the planet was now bloody red, glowing intensely. The wires of eyelashes weren’t swaying anymore, its tips were sparkling with red electric surges of anger. At the same time, in the now-lit space of the network, a top priority message overrode every other of the countless number of signals, making the colored dots stop its data packet exchange for a moment and parse the strong signal coming off the large dot in the middle. Every dot in the network interpreted the two words in complete silence, indicating that the excessive flicking of the biggest dot in the center was sending a maximum priority signal, a signal that their mother taught them billions of years ago, “MY BABY!” echoed across every corner of the network, a data packet that even some of the most advanced of the dots lost over time. <...> <…..> <………….> < Lifting 4th level restriction…Upgrading core system…> <"Fear not Panthy, Mama is here">