“Well that was moronic,” Ki said, looking down at Grant imperiously.
Grant lay on his back upon the floor of his mental fortress, slowly coming to. Unlike the previous times he had woken, feeling crisp and alert, he felt incredibly sluggish, barely able to roll over onto his stomach. The pain that he had experienced from abusing his body was lessened now that he was inside his mind, but he still felt it far more than he had expected. Every twitch of his body, every flex of his muscles was a sharp dagger, mercilessly punishing him for his foolishness.
Grant slowly pushed himself up onto his knees, fighting through the pain. “Why… on Earth… does it hurt this much?” he grunted out, wincing and grimacing as he forced his body to obey his commands.
“Because you are moronic,” Ki repeated, crossing his arms and scowling at him. “You are incredibly lucky to be alive, and it is entirely possible that you have permanently, irreparably damaged your body, preventing you from ever drawing upon my power again.”
Grant snapped his head upwards, staring at Ki in shock. “What?” he said, gaping at the robed figure. “Are you serious? Why the fuck didn’t you say something before I did it then?”
Ki’s scowl deepened. “Because you stopped me from doing so.”
Grant frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said,” Ki stated, stepping back and summoning a chair to sit on, one that Grant recognised as his most recent gaming chair. “I did not know it was possible, but somehow you imbuing your body like that prevented any and all mental communication from passing through. I can only surmise that it strengthened your mental faculties to the point where any telepathy was automatically impeded, even if it originated from inside your own mind. For if you had not realised, my presence as a separate mind within your own requires that all of our communication is done telepathically, as with any other mental communication - the only difference is the point of origin. But preventing me from speaking to you is just one of many, many reasons why what you did was one of the most arrogant, dangerous, suicidal uses of power I have ever seen.”
Grant sighed. “Yeah, I know. But…” He shrugged. “It worked. I’m here, and Fyodor will live.”
Ki nodded. “Yes, it did. And yes, he most likely will. But it is incredibly likely that you have damaged yourself and your abilities in some way, preventing us from doing what is necessary and dooming your planet to enslavement, torture and experimentation for eternity.”
The calm, matter-of-fact way that Ki stated this made Grant flinch more than if it had been yelled at him. He hadn’t thought that imbuing himself so immensely would be that dangerous to him, but he was feeling the after effects now. He certainly hadn’t realised that there was a possibility that he would actually damage his ability to use magic, but it made sense in a way. Like putting too much pressure through a pipe can cause it to crack, there must be a limit on how much magic a normal body was capable of channelling. Fyodor and the other Forsaken obviously knew this, which is why they had warned him to slowly build up the amount of power he imbued himself with, to acclimatise his body to the experience. They hadn’t mentioned anything about permanently affecting his power though - most likely, they didn’t actually know. After all, none of them would have been anywhere near capable of imbuing themselves with even a fraction of the power he had used without already having spent years or decades building up their own tolerance.
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Grant slowly got to his feet, pain wracking his body with every movement. As he stood, he noticed for the first time that the residual effects from his actions weren’t merely physical. His mind palace looked like it had withstood an earthquake. Cracks covered the floor, walls and ceiling, and dust and rubble was scattered across the hall they stood in. The portraits of his friends and family that adorned the walls had fallen to the ground, and some had shattered like glass, though even as Grant watched, he could see them slowly reassembling themselves and returning to their normal state.
He stared at Ki. “What… what happened here? How did…”
Ki sighed. “Grant, I do not think you fully comprehend what you just forced upon yourself. No one’s mind is untouched by their actions, and pain is one of the most tried and tested ways of causing a mind to shatter. In this case, not only did you experience more raw pain than most humans could ever experience, it was pain that was self inflicted, and caused by magic. Those factors combined make it a near miracle that you did not turn into a gibbering, mindless oaf the second you finished your little experiment. Luckily,” he said, looking around the hall, “it appears your mental fortitude is even greater than I anticipated. It makes sense, given that that is one of the key criteria used to select a host, as many normal mortals cannot withstand our presence, but still. It is impressive. Even more so given that you have demonstrated that you are, as I hope you have fully appreciated by now, moronic.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Grant scowled, limping over to him slightly before summoning his own mental copy of his comfortable gaming chair and sitting down with a sigh of relief. “I’m an idiot. Next time, I’ll try to find a more gentle solution. But let's move on from me. You owe me some explanations. Starting with, what the living fuck is going on?”
Ki glanced at him before turning his gaze to the floor, a faint frown furrowing his brow. “I do not know, entirely. But you are right, things have escalated far beyond what I predicted. Too much has gone awry, and it is vital that you are better informed going forwards - though there are still details and secrets that must remain hidden. Luckily, given your situation, it is extremely unlikely that you are presently in the company of the enemy we have been trying to avoid, so the resonance of your mind learning certain facts is far less of an issue.”
“To begin with,” he continued, “the monster. His appearance was… unexpected. More so than perhaps anything else that has occurred. His name is Typhon.”
Grant frowned. “That… sounds vaguely familiar.” He scratched his chin. “But, I wasn’t the biggest mythology fan. Although, given just the little I know, I suspect being some ancient mythology whiz kid wouldn’t really help all that much outside of knowing some names. So, who the fuck is Typhon, how is he so powerful, and how did he destroy the door?”
“To the final question, I have no idea,” Ki replied, shaking his head. “Well,” he corrected himself, “more precisely I do not know why he would do so. Clearly he is working with our enemy, but I have no concept of why either of them would wish to do such a thing. Between them, they have the power and the knowledge, certainly, but doing so is incredibly dangerous. She has undermined the entire Vault, and the ripples from her actions will continue to affect this world and the real world for years. She has hastened the release of my peers by decades, maybe even centuries, and I have absolutely no notion of why. What is she thinking…” He muttered the last almost under his breath as he trailed off, his face set in a deep frown
Grant sighed. “Ok, new priority question. Who is ‘she’, exactly? I think it's time I know who I’m up against, exactly.”
Ki nodded. “I agree. As I said, it is not time for every secret to be revealed… but yes. It is time for you to learn of the Vault, and of our enemy.” He paused. “Her name is Muirenn,” he said softly, “and she is one of the greatest people I have ever known.”
Grant felt the vision descend.