18.

X

“Are you mad?”, Zeus had asked when I told him of my plan to use the Mind against my father. It was our only chance left. I was just counting on X to keep him occupied till we got there. It was a long shot, but it was all I could think of. “Yes, I am mad, Zeus, but if you want this world to live, you will have to trust me. This is the only way.” Zeus looked forward as his lightning took us back toward the Gentry system. He was contemplative, but I knew he agreed with me.

“If you can get to the mind, what guarantee do you have that you’ll be able to control it? You might just die from the sheer power.” True, I might die, but it was a chance I was willing to take. “I’ll handle it.”, I said simply. “You guys just need to distract him long enough for me to fuse with the mind, I trust you can handle that.” I looked at Míriel, she looked different now, Z’ara must’ve done something to her, I could sense it. “Hey look, Xassin, I’m sorry for trying to kill you before...” Hey, maybe she wasn’t that bad after all. I gave her a tight grin and nodded. “Its okay... M’gethir is to blame after all, not you.”  She frowned, turning her head downward. “I never want to hear his name, ever.”

“Time to drop off Xassin, once I attack him, that will be your signal to go to the ship, fuse with the mind and then the rest is up to you.” He looked at me with pain in his eyes. “Make that bastard pay.”, he said, before I left his lightning bolt. In the distance, I could see Tony fighting him with everything he had, but eventually my father adapted and started beating him mercilessly. I had to stop myself from going to help him and reminded myself of the bigger picture. I soon saw the lightning of Zeus crackle and push a dark figure away. I immediately cloaked myself and flew towards the ship.

I saw Tony lying down, his body battered and broken. He was healing though and I smiled, happy that he wasn’t dead. Then I went intangible, and entered the ship. It was a massive structure, with runes everywhere, holding the mind in place. Without them, the mind would cause any mortal being without a strong psychic resistance within a universe’s radius to die immediately of a Psionic overload.

I could still hear the sounds of battle outside, the crackle of electricity sounding often. I followed the trail to the centre of  the ship, here the mind lay. It was an impressive set of rune arrays, but the Index translated and solved it. The Mind’s energy hit me hard as it was released, but the ship’s runes held fine. When I adjusted to the energy change, I floated cross-legged towards the Mind. It pulsed and resonated with my Index. And soon I heard that terrible voice of Ente.

“You know the repercussions of what you are about to do?”, he asked, incredulous. Yes. Once fused with him, if I survived the process, I would become a vessel for him, if my will wasn’t strong enough, and I would lose all self awareness, floating in the vast sea of his Mind forever. “Yes, I know. But there isn’t any other way, is there? I have to end him now, or else all is lost.” Ente chuckled, as if everything I said was some sort of comedy flick. “Young Xassin, you have so much hate in your heart. You are imbalanced, and fusing with me will end in your demise.” I was getting annoyed now, there wasn’t any time. My friends could be dying out there. I didn’t have time for riddles.

“Look Ente, I’m sure you don’t want to die. So stop with the damn stubbornness and let’s do this.” Without saying anything, I closed my eyes and let my my Index sync with the Mind. It took some effort, but I managed to fully synchronize myself with it. I opened my eyes and concentrated my energy into lassoing it and pulling it into me. When I was done, I felt nothing for a few seconds. Then all of a sudden, I felt an excruciating pain in my head  it felt like someone took a sledgehammer and drove it into the back of my head repeatedly.

I stopped levitating and dropped to the floor, screaming. I blacked out immediately after.  I floated in the abyss for what seemed like an eternity. I could hear whispers of something nostalgic floating past my ears. It sounded like the excited cries of children. In a flash, I was on a path with four other children my age.  One threw a glowing blue ball at me. “Catch, Xassin.” , one of the children yelled with glee. I caught it instinctively and tossed it back.

“Nice throw, Thyrm.”, I heard myself say. My voice was tiny and immature.  And I suddenly wasn’t 6’2 anymore. Thyrm...that was my friend’s name...from my childhood. I looked around and gasped. It was my home planet..Ronnok. How... Everything was exactly how I remember, the hills, the different constellations, the floating islands, everything was the same, the same way I remembered it. “Okay, Ente...I really don’t want this, we can begin the fusion now.” No response. Damn, this guy was having his fun.

“Who are you talking to, Xas?” Sicor, another friend of mine asked as he hit the ball with a stick at me and I caught it again, this time with little air currents, and launched it at another friend of mine, Aalun. I remember now, I had been learning elven magic in our temple. Taught, by my... father. Shit. “No one, just memorising spells.”, I say again. Druin, a dark skinned child like me suddenly snatches the ball and runs off with it. “Come on you slowpokes!” he yells, before running in the opposite direction. We all chase after him, screaming and cursing...well cursing as well as little kids could.

We run into the city and I continue to get hit by wave after wave of nostalgia. There are confused yelps as we run through the streets, wreaking havoc everywhere. Druin is a bit bigger than all of us, and so, way faster. But he’s not as skilled as me in mage arts. “Ansuz” I  mutter and feel myself getting faster. I leap over some confused folks and land on Druin, collecting the ball as he thrashes about in protest. 

“Xas...that was awesome! You’ve already learned enhancement?” Sicor and the others crowd me, yelling in disbelief. “That spell isn’t meant for us yet, how do you know it? And know the exact runes to picture?” I’m a genius, duh. And maybe it’s because I already know them from years of experience. But it’s mostly because I’m a genius. “Its just hard work, guys and a lot of practice. There were more excited shouts, asking when they could come over to study with me and how cool I was, when a voice distracted me. I knew the person before I even turned around. “Xassin, it’s time for supper”, said my mother, smiling. I ran into her arms and she snatched me up, laughing.

“Oh my star...” she coughed a bit and started walking home. “I saw what you did, trying out untaught spells on your friends”  then a mischievous smile spread throughout her face. “You caught up to him, so I’ll let you go this time.”  She let me down, because we were home. She let me down and coughed again, before opening the door. I ran in, and was barely able to get to the stairs when a pair of strong male hands grabbed me. I was whirled around and came face to face with eyes I’ve come to hate and a smile that haunted my dreams for years. “Xassin, my boy...I hear you’re picking up quite nicely in mage arts.”, my father cooed, scooping me up. I didn’t even know how to react. A million scenarios ran through my head, but I couldn’t seem to focus on anything, so, I just replied.

“Yes father. I learnt from the best.”, I said smiling, while my mind screamed at me. He’s the one that killed your mother!  Yes, but...that wasn’t who was in front of me right now. This person was a genius, a researcher, and a father. My father. Remember, he has killed hundreds, if not thousands of people, and you defend him?  My father patted my head and smiled again. “Good child. Go up and prepare for supper. Your mother and I have things to discuss.”  I ran up, removed my clothes, and went into the shower, trying desperately to calm myself down.

Supper was how I remembered it, laughter and love filled the air and the night had a warm glow. After supper I excused myself and went up to sleep. It never came. I kept staring at the ceiling, willing sleep to come, but any time I closed my eyes, there was always something there, a leaf rustling, or some animal outside making some noise, something that would always jolt me back awake. I decided to explore the house then, and maybe I’d find clues on how to get out if this hell. I stood up, and went about exploring the house.

It was small, my room being on the far end of the house with a hallway opposite my door. The hallway led into the dining area and kitchen. Past that were the stairs that led to my father’s study. I hesitated at the foot of the stairs and was considering going back when I heard something  come from up the stairs. It was too dull for me to make out what it was, but it kept on coming periodically, and I found myself halfway up the stairs. The door to the study was slightly ajar and I could make out what the sound was. It was coughing.

Short, pained coughs emanated from the room. When I peeked, I saw my mother coughing into a napkin, and father standing beside her with an elixir bottle in hand. When she removed the napkin, I could see it was covered in blood. I stifled a gasp and watched as she too the elixir bottle and drank some more. “Its getting worse Kaymaer, I’m barely able to hide it from our boy now.”, she entered another coughing fit and my father tried his best to calm her down. “I will soon be able to use the Shard’s energy to cure you, my love.” He put an arm around her reassuringly. “We will be fine, I promise.”

He didn’t draw on the shard to get stronger...he did it to be able to cure mother...all these years, I blamed him for being so selfish. That explains the sadness I remember so vividly on her face, when she faced him. Oh, I’ve been such a fool. I rushed into the study and hugged my father, finally understanding everything, letting go of my rage. Good, now you’re ready. Ente entered my head again, and I realized I was floating in darkness. You have done well...don’t worry anymore. I saw two gigantic hands about to cover me, showing promises of  having my childhood back, those perfect days that I never worried about anything. Yes Xassin, you can have it all back. Just let go. I felt myself slipping away until I realized something. 

I was the one that was going to put my father to rest, not some stranger.

“No.”, I said and held the hands. Immediately, they shrank and Ente was my size. Very well then. You did well. I will complete the fusion. He entered my body and I felt tremendous power flow through me. I blinked and I was awake. I saw my father create a white hole and hurl it at Tony. In an instant, I was in front of the white hole. I understood everything. Everything was just information waiting to be manipulated. I flicked the white hole, reducing it to nothing. “Disperse” My father looked at me, confused. I was now just sad seeing him like that. I stared at him for a minute doing nothing, emotions raging in me.

Don’t worry Father. You will meet mother soon.