He didn’t end up telling them.

It had been a nice night of hanging out and the occasional ribbing, nothing could have been better. Sydney was excited to tell them about her entrance into a local school. With her generous sum of compensation from Origin, she was able to pay tuition for one of the best combat courses Ethin had to offer. According to her, even though she was a lower tier, they were actually happy to accept someone of her age.

It seemed that it was uncommon to find a student of her age that was only tier two, so because of her built experience already, she could be trained in specific fields so that when she was done with Configuring, she would basically be a specialist in whatever form of combat she desired. Seth was quite surprised at this news; he hadn’t even thought about joining any schools.

Even Will seemed to have some good news. When Seth asked him about his future plans, Will said that he was going to dive into some search jobs in order to build his reputation. After he was done with that, Will claimed that anyone with a brain would start paying him a pretty penny for the use of his skills. Seth was overjoyed with their declared paths; it looked like they weren’t going to try and make him a part of some group of theirs.

They were going their own ways, just like himself.

He almost let out that he was going away when Will started talking about how they could still hang out just like right now.

“I mean we all still live in this place, right? We don’t have to stay in the same apartment like right now, but we can still have dinner and stuff together. It’s not like we gotta treat each other like strangers. We could probably even start talking with the other people that came from Origin, they are from Earth AND they live here too.”

Sydney nodded at his proclamation.

Probably thinking about talking to Ty again. Seth snickered in his head.

Although he was content hearing about the future plans of his friends, he remembered that he wouldn’t be apart of them. He found himself actually feeling a little sad after that thought, it was surprising. Coming back from his meeting with Grayson and Rena, Seth didn’t feel any regret or sadness over the idea of leaving. But now, seeing Will’s hopeful smile and Sydney’s thinly hidden interest in the idea of them all staying close, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt and longing. He wondered what it would be like to have a tight-knit group of friends he could always rely on, even if he went to live his own life.

It was unfortunate that he wouldn’t be able to experience that, but he was trading that life for something more important to him right now: power. After seeing the battle with Domination and Untold, Seth couldn’t think of anything else other then getting stronger. Back on Earth, before he knew of the existence of the Foundation, there was no real way to gain power.

Sure, you could hit the gym for a good couple years and gain enough strength to perhaps lift the front end of a car off the ground, but you would still die to a well-placed piece of lead.

Or maybe, you became president, or a billionaire.

It still didn’t matter, that wasn’t real power. Just as a nuke could wipe out millions of people, big or small, a simple virus could take down even more.

At the end of the day, everyone on Earth was still mortal, still fragile. Now, with the Foundation, you could become something fundamentally superior. Instead of lifting cars, one with enough power could decimate planets, even galaxies. A bullet wouldn’t do a damn thing either, hell, a spike the size of Seth’s head went through the chest of a ‘normal’ person here on Ethin and he just walked if off!

Seth wanted that kind of power, no, craved it.

As his night finally wrapped up and the trio went to their rooms, Seth made one last promise to himself. He had already vowed he would get stronger, that he needed to get stronger. But now, he promised that he would do anything to get the strength. Although he hadn’t technically killed anyone as of yet, he personally didn’t feel like it would differ from killing a Fouler or Clinnak.

“Man is just an animal that makes bargains after all.” Seth whispered to himself, remembering a quote from a book he read a while ago.

In a universe where lower beings are killed for fun and someone can experiment on other people for no reason other than their own curiosity, what’s wrong with a guy that has a bit of ambition?

--------

Seth slept like a baby that night.

No weird dreams or visits to hell, just pure, nice, restful sleep. Upon arrival of morning, Seth was practically full of energy and quickly showered and threw on his self-cleaning damascus clothes. He didn’t even bother throwing on shoes, for some reason they had started to bother him because he could never get them to fit correctly using his dimensional energy. He quickly rushed down the hallway towards the main room where he found the muffin-like pastry that he had ordered in advance last night. He didn’t want to stop on his way to The Oasis because he was afraid his anxiety would grow too much to allow him to eat.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Even though he was looking forward to the special event Grayson had gotten him into, there was still a large note of uncertainty and anxiety hanging in his gut because of the appearance of Rena and the lack of information about The Incubator.

Time to nut up man, what did we talk about last night?

To his annoyance, his inner monologue was quickly answered by a storm of voices that continued to throw out unintelligible nonsense to his rhetorical question.

“SHUT THE HELL UP, I’M NOT TALKING TO YOU!” he yelled in irritation at the quieting slew of noise.

Only then did he realize that he had strolled into the main lobby of the building, where everyone had turned to look at him like he was insane. As he felt a couple animas beginning to swell in size, he hurried to walk out while bowing in embarrassment.

Geez, they might not be too far off, I do sound pretty crazy.

As Seth walked down the bustling streets toward his destination, he finally took a moment to think about the whispering voices that always sat at the back of his mind. They had originally appeared around the time he had fought his first Fouler. Until now, he had attributed them to be some stupid side effect of the anomaly he had consumed.

Hmmm… Folly said that he heard them too I think, but at the same time, it kind of felt like he blew it off, making a joke of it. Wait, didn’t he describe the whispers as an excuse? But I was actually being serious…

Seth stopped cold in the middle of the street, causing other pedestrians to weave around him like a current. A specific memory hit him like a train. Crimson everywhere, the vision of his bloody stump and the flying monstrosity hovering above him. A voice cutting through his agony and fueling his anger, while at the same time bringing forth a hurricane of lower voices that he hadn’t really registered.

But that was before I took the anomaly…

His blood flow slowly turned frigid as he tried to remember every time he had heard an understandable voice.

Once with the Fouler, a couple times after the first test, but staggered over the course of a few months, then in the shower, and finally in the office of Mr. Alldean.

He went over every memory that he could but still couldn’t remember another instance of the original voice talking to him. All of the ones after his initial fight with the Fouler sounded exactly like Folly. The first one… it had sounded familiar, but no matter how much Seth strained to remember, he couldn’t think of who it had sounded like. He slowly attempted to defrost himself and continued walking.

Maybe I should just put this on the back burner. I don’t think I can afford being distracted when I go to The Incubator.

Seth shook his head to clear his mind and began purposefully striding forward. He filled his thoughts with all kinds of theories about the upcoming event, as well as the finger mark he still hadn’t figured out yet. Unfortunately, no matter how many random things he concocted to think about, the previous matter still hung eerily at the back of his thoughts, waiting to be unraveled.

-------

“Welcome back yet again Seth.”

This time, Grayson was the one to meet him at the door. Seth gave him a nod while walking through the door of the establishment. The two wordlessly made their way back to Grayson’s office. This time, the office door was closed so Seth strode forward to hold it open for Grayson. As he followed in after Grayson, Seth was unsurprised to find the doll woman yet again sitting completely still in the spot she was yesterday.

Upon their arrival, her neck turned soundlessly to grace the two newcomers with the same dead stare she had been previously giving the wall. Grayson bowed and Seth uncomfortably followed suit, the cold air of her presence already worming its way into his bones. She rose in silence and reflected the gesture.

“It is time for me to take the boy, the timetable has moved up.”

Her icy voice made Seth shiver. Grayson nodded in understanding as he turned to Seth.

“It seems this is where we part for the time being Seth. I have nothing but respect for your decision here. Please make sure to come back, as I would rather not have one of my investments fall through.” Grayson lamented with a spark of humor.

Seth held out a hand that Grayson reached to shake.

“I appreciate this opportunity and all your help. Trust me, I’m not going to let some boujee royals outlive me.” Seth reciprocated with a similar glint of humor.

And with that, Seth unclasped Grayson’s gloved hand and walked over to Rena. She just sat and stared at his approach, unmoving. He cast one last look back at Grayson with a grin before the cold pressure of Rena’s hand grabbed his shoulder and he was enveloped in a cold darkness that smelled of rot.

-------

Grayson watched as the child turned to give him a boyish grin before disappearing in a swarm of moths. A moment after their departure, Byrus appeared next to Grayson. He looked around exasperated before turning toward his boss.

“Did I miss him?”

Grayson chuckled softly before patting Byrus on the shoulder.

“It seemed his time was moved up.”

Byrus let out a disappointed sigh before looking at the slight traces of a myth disappearing.

“You must be elated; I know you spent quite the fortune just to get him the chance to go.”

Grayson cringed inwardly at the large chunk of money that was now gone from his account.

“I was lucky to get their attention at all. Thank Lic for our Lady Dawn.”

Grayson silently worshipped Dawn, his and the rest of The Oasis’s Umbra. Although a bit greedy at times, it seemed she always made the right move, and it looked like using her power to get the attention of the group behind The Incubator was one of them. Regardless of the personal cost it took him to petition the Umbra, he was totally satisfied with the results of her help. Grayson walked out of the office to tend to his normal duties.

I do hope he lives.

Byrus also began to follow him out before turning back to the spot of the now absent myth. He rubbed his horn unconsciously while closing his eyes.

“May Lic bless your soul and may Null protect its descent.”