NOVEL NEXT Chapter 004: Answers
As I emerge from the wall passage, I am positively surprised. The room I'm in is very cosy. It has floor covered by a soft carpet, red with golden ornaments. Opposite of me is a fireplace, with fire burning merrily. In front of the chimney stands a coffee table and a comfortable-looking armchair at its end. Behind it is a bookcase filled with books arranged so tightly not even a hair could be fit in. On the other side are more bookcases, as well as a wooden desk where my guide has been preparing – judging by the aroma – a really good tea.
“Sit down.” they say indicating the seat, so I take it. It feels very nice, even my tail somehow fits – although it has to be curved to the side. It is surprisingly flexible, allowing me to sit quite comfortably. As I nestle in place, I observe my host. They are pouring tea from an elegant teapot in a way that exudes serenity and perfection, holding the pot high in the air with one hand and supporting it with the other. When the cups are filled, they are picked up and one of them is placed on the table, in front of me.
The tea smells divine, tempting me to drink it. Only now do I notice how thirsty and hungry I am. I reach for the drink and bring it to my mouth. And I hesitate. Can I really trust someone who is basically a stranger? Someone who controlled me against my will? What are their motives? They are drinking the same tea, but what if they spiked mine, somehow? Both teas smell the same, but… Can I truly be sure?
“If I intended to harm you it would have already been done. I have fully controlled your Body in the test room. Cheap tricks are redundand to make you do my bidding. Now, drink the infusion before it cools down.”
I freeze at the mention of control and memories of some of our interactions in the other room. How they ordered some things and how my body reacted, regardless of my will. It is simultaneously chilling and INFURIATING. I HATE being forced to do anything I don’t want on a deep, even primal level.
But I also know that they are right. They are in total control of the situation, whether I like it or not. Well, there is nothing I can do with it. I need to comply, at least for now. I can plan my eventual escape later. There are more pressing issues at the moment. Well, there is even a chance I won’t need to break out, even if it is probably very slim – my creation likely costed a lot, so letting me loose would be strange. Hmm… There are no windows, nor doors anywhere…
“Before we begin I need to inform you that I possess no further plans, nor desires of: using you, imprisoning you, controlling you, or limiting your freedom in any way you can and cannot imagine, as freedom is one of qualities required for living beings to prosper beyond simple survival. You are going to be released int the wild, so stop thinking about escaping and focus.”
I am shocked. They know?! How?! Is it that obvious? Or can they read my mind?! My thoughts are racing, as I watch them go to one of the shelves and pick up a book.
“Affirmative. You cannot hide whatever you are thinking about from me.”
That’s… really difficult to take in. I can barely believe what is happening.
“Belief implies ignorance. You have knowledge.”
I blink at their statement. I know, deep inside me, that what they say is undeniably truth. But I still cannot wrap my mind around it… around the whole concept of mindreading. Frankly, it seems creepy, you pervert. Well, at least it seems I won’t have to worry about miscommunication. If you can peer into my brain, you know what questions were whirling there at all times.
They nod, ignoring my insult. “Drink the brew before we start.”
I take a sip and finally understand why they were so adamant I drink it now. It is the most delicious drink I ever had. So good I lose myself in the experience. Every drop is filled with concentrated mix of flavours, feelings and sensations. I can literally taste the sun, the rain and the earth. I can sense the gentle heat, radiating from my mouth to my stomach, as I swallow and the beverage travels through my body. It calms me, and it somehow satisfies my thirst and hunger. Soon, the cup is empty and I feel sated. I cherish the feeling, knowing it will end soon. As I put the empty cup on the table, I look at my host. We can begin. I am ready.
They nod at that. “Before telling you about yourself, you first need to be informed about myself, what transpired recently, and have some crucial concepts briefly explained.” They turn, so I can see them from the side, and put the book they were reading back and turn as they take another one and start writing in it. “Your lack of the knowledge required to truly grasp them requires vast oversimplifications; don’t expect me to answer majority of the questions you come up with. If you wish, do your own research.” Rude, but feels honest.
“I shall start with myself. I am often referred to as: The Great Alchemist, The Triple-Magnificent, The Greatest Alchemist To Ever Exist. The One Who Mastered Three Spheres Of Existence…” Gee, you sound so arrogant with all this titles. “…The Material, The Mental and The Metaphysical - in other words, the Body, the Mind and the Soul. It is the reason I can perceive your thoughts clearly and accurately, control your Body and how I can create life.” Wow. Are you some sort of a god?
They sharply turn their head towards me. “I am not. Your concept of godhood has incorrect definitions, is ignorant of technicalities of Reality and ridden with methodological inaccuracies; but we digress.” They then turn back to the shelves, ignoring my unspoken questions. “Your Soul was a rare one – it had most of its Mind intact. All living beings posses three qualities: Body, Mind and Soul. Soul is the Core of a being, giving it identity; akin to a nucleus in a cell. Body is the Container of being, giving it shape; reminiscent of an external membranes and walls of a cell. Mind is an Aether that connects those two; similarily to cytoplasm. Processes that happen in Mind influence both Body and Soul in the most significant way, although every aspect of a living being influences every other aspect as well.”
That’s… a lot to take in. The analogy to the cell works wonders, allowing me to visualize what is being described. But how does it explain my story? And how does this work for, for example, plants and microbes?
“Mind is the most fragile and malleable part of the Existence; it can take the widest array of forms, including it barely existing at all. Ordinarily, when Body dies, its Soul is released and Mind torn. Aspects of Mind have their attractors – memories are attracted to Body, feelings to Soul; that is why, ordinarily, when Soul reincarnates, the new being possesses memories of their past life reaching from none to little; the feelings, however, stay and influence the newborn.” They turn to me to look me in the eye “Yours was a rare case – over 95% of
your Mind was intact and preserved on your Soul.”I listen to their explanation and remember how I couldn’t recall some details of my illness, complete faces of my parents, or some of my friends. There is affection, sure, but what experience does it connect to is apparently lost forever. The realization makes me sad. As I ponder over my memories, I notice that some of my knowledge and emotions feel… different. Not exactly wrong, more like they don’t fit with my past life.
“They are not from your past human life.” They say as they come closer, standing closest to me since they gave me the tea. Their statement gives me a pause. I look them in the eyes. Where do they come from, then? Did you… mess with my mind? My soul? Why would you do it?
They silently stand there, looking me in the eyes and gently sipping their tea, as my thoughts race for a moment. Only when I calm down do they answer. “Explaining that requires recalling the events that transpired after your demise.” They drink the rest and make the cup disappear, then move past me to the desk, crossing their hands on their back.
“When your Soul separated, it took most of the Mind. While rare, this occurs disproportionately in individuals that have some sort of lingering resentment to their Form – and you resented your Body. You envied others and dreamt impossible dreams. It’s normal. In this case, however, even more extraordinary event took place in conjunction. Your Soul traveled to another world, one disconnected from your original. It ended up in The Underworld, and would have become the plaything of its inhabitants – Demons…” ANGER fills me at the mere mention of them, which makes me release heat along with a low growl. “…were it not for IT; a primordial Soul, incomprehensibly rarer than yours.”
As self-proclaimed Great Alchemist tells the story how my soul got to them, I find it resonating with something deep inside me. They briefly explain what the Underworld is, but gloss over how it functions, how IT suffered and that the same would eventually happen to me, and I somehow KNOW it to be true, despite most technical details going over my head. Then they go on to describe how IT performed basically a suicidal act out of spite, as IT was too weak to really be able to do anything. But the conclusion of their story is what shocks me the most.
“IT used to know me, but was too damaged for even me to be able to recognize IT. Nonetheless, we struck a bargain.” They look at me. “I would create you a perfect Body… using ITS Soul in the process.”
Their confession leaves me questioning myself. Is IT the source of my wild emotions? Is it the source of my new knowledge? Does it mean I am not only me, but IT at the same time?! What does me even mean anymore?
My creator watches me in silence, as I struggle through an unexpected identity crisis, as if gauging my reaction. “It is of no consequence. As was said, IT was on the verge of collapse. ITS Mind consisted of hardly more than vague feelings. ITS Body practically nonexistent. ITS Soul was barely functioning. What you retained are mostly emotions and some primordial characteristics I managed to infuse into your being. Primordials, sometimes incorrectly called Elementals, are ones of the rarest manifestations of Existence. Everything about them is slightly irregular. Their Spheres of Existence are immensely more connected with each other than among other beings; it nearly folds all of them into one. And I was able to partially transfer some of those characteristics into you; now your
Soul, Mind and Body are partially primordial. The results are fascinating.”Of all the revelations I have heard so far, this one is definitely the most important and unexpected. I have already accepted my non-human form – to be fair I actually loved it pretty much instantly. Even the later surprise starts looking more acceptable, as time goes on. But let’s not jump to conclusions. I then focus, as I am about to hear what is probably the most important information in both of my lives.
They nod and start explaining. “To begin with: Soul. It is stronger than an ordinary mortal Soul, and can affect the Physical Sphere beyond what is commonly feasible. The heat you experience internally and emit externally is such a manifestation of that power; flames you can summon are another.” It seems like IT was a Fire Elemental “IT was no ‘Fire Elemental’. Reducing IT to merely fire is an affront to IT. Primordials are much, much more than one ‘element’. Back to the fire you can conjure; it actually became banefire, a form that can directly influence Metaphysical Sphere, which in addition to making your Core exceptionally resistant to outside interference, makes it perfect to deal with certain beings – such as Demons or spectral Undead” I cannot contain FURY at the mention of Demons; at least it seems I have some sort of ace up my sleeve against them. “It should sever their connection, immediately cleansing them, forcing specters to reincarnate and Demons to truly die.”
“Next: your Mind is more resilient against control. Still, lack of experience prevented you from taking action during testing; henceforth, you should be able to identify mental attacks and deal with them in the future.” I blush at that, remembering the mushroom on the rat. “Furthermore, I added some basic information, most needed for survival. Besides that, I preserved your Mind as it was when I begun the process of creating you. However, some feelings of IT mixed with your Aether during teleportation and I did not remove them; they are the reason for your hatred of Demons, along other things.”
I feel a little conflicted. Mention of ADVERSARIES makes me FURIOUS and it seems I will have to live with it. All in all I am pretty relieved that my mind is still my own. Now, onto the most exciting part for me.
“Finally, your Body. The only part I created instead of tweaking. And you are perfect…” What does it even mean? “… or as close to perfection as possible without creating every Sphere; and as your grasp on secrets of Existence is very rudimentary, explaining the concept of perfection would take eons.” Rude. “I will focus on parts the most relevant for you. The foundation of your Form is predicated on your wishes, regrets and dreams of your past life I examined.” That’s… actually nice of you. Thanks. Still doesn’t explain some quirks, tho. “… that is your strength and resilience, further improved by primordial infusion, manifesting mainly in your eyes, blood and hair, specifically the displayed mix of colours, matching your banefire. They are more difficult to damage and form a natural defence barrier, in addition of acting as media for your power with your eyes and claws.”
As they finish explaining how the ‘primordial elements’ influence me, my host start explaining differences between my previous, human body, and my current one. They describe how my senses work and briefly outline how they were enhanced. They also warned me that my reception of things such as food and drinks will be different, as human sensations differ from my new ones. Finally, they explain the most confusing parts so far: my reproductive system. According to them:
-me having male and female parts is me being ‘perfect’ which statement they refuse to elaborate
-both my reproductive tracts begin in the same organs, which is ‘an improvement’
-my fertility is similar to Beastkin, in whose image I was apparently created, so I will usually have twins on average
-it also means I will be entering periods of heat – and I already experienced my first one earlier today, albait enhanced – causing my ‘friskiness and fertility’ to increase; the silver lining being that I will have them so strong roughly about every 10 years since the last one or the last pregnancy, but I will still experience a weaker one every month
-apparently, the first heat at the age of about 25 marks maturity of my species… which is, as of now, my official age
-my milk is both nutritious and tasty (gross), in addition to it ‘having impressive alchemical qualities’, whatever that means
-I will live to be at least 2000 years old… “Wait, what?!”
“The expected lifespan of your species is around 2000 to 2500 years, possibly longer. It is hard to predict primordial influence on that aspect, but if there is any, it will be positive and you will live even longer than predicted; Primordials are generally unburdened by old age, being technically immortal, and you also should experience lessened effects of an old age, at least until you are nearing the very end of your life.”
That final reveal is the most difficult to conceptualize - after all, it is a life the length of an era! Human minds – and if I understood correctly, my mind is the most human part of me now – does not really comprehend such timescales! I am also immediately flooded by other thoughts on what such a vast time imply. Most importantly, the inevitable death of friends and loved ones; I know how much pain it can cause.
“This world has many species with long lifespans; yours isn’t the longest. You will adapt in time.”
They are right. I should focus on opportunities, not possible problems. With so much time on my hands, I will be able to fulfill the dreams I have had, and dreams I have yet to realize I had.
“Thank you.” I say smiling. They do nothing to indicate noticing it. Suddenly, they clap their hand, once, keeping them clasped together. “With that, we are nearly finished. What is left is naming your species. Due to the canine characteristics, connection to the Underworld and primordial influences including an affinity to banefire, I hereby name it Hellhound. Shall you and your progeny be free and prosper.” As they say that, they move their hands in the most complex manner I have seen so far. Then I feel myself move. Before I can protest, I am tossed away, into the unknown. Before I lose sight of them, I hear their final message:
“Be free and prosper. I will see you in a few years.”
