The Universal Records: Alex Lunaris

In a castle above the sky, crafted from all the stars in the galaxy, a castle that exists both everywhere and nowhere, a castle of contradictions at the galaxy's end. It was in this castle; the gods created me. It's where they did all kinds of horrific experiments on my body. These so called benevolent gods tore me open and put me back together like a doll without hesitation or remorse. I had no identity. To them I was a mere experiment, a test subject, someone to satiate their curiosity. The only one who tried to stop the others was my father, Talarian, The Divine of Space. He tried convincing them to cease these experiments, saying that I was the only successful one, thus they should let me live and grow to see the experiment come to fruition. Finally, after many years of my father pleading with them, the other gods finally gave in and let me go free. However, before they all left, the Devil Phoebe, who reigns over memories, implanted knowledge of my name, race, blessing, and other parts of my apparent identity along with knowledge pertaining to the world and how I can grow stronger. As I felt the knowledge burrow into my brain, I screamed out in agony from the feeling of someone splitting my skull open with a dull carving knife and reaching inside to shove the information into my brain. With each passing second, I felt more memories find their home inside my head, increasing the pain more and more, until my already broken body gave up and everything faded to black. 

After waking up, I was relishing in the newfound sense of freedom, having been released from my bonds, before looking at my father, who was gazing at me with his usual gentle eyes. Eyes that hid the pain of seeing his own child being repeatedly torn apart, screaming for the pain to stop. As his gaze flitted over my body, confirming there were no lasting physical scars were present, he motioned for me to follow him out of the room that held all my pain and misery. As we exited the room, I watched as my father snapped his fingers, the action seemingly doing nothing at first. Then I heard a colossal explosion, followed by the sound of something cracking and subsequently collapsing in on itself. I looked back in a mix of horror and happiness as I watched the room I had spent the past eighteen years of my life disintegrate into the surrounding space. My father collapsed the space inside the room, removing it from existence, like wiping away a strand of hair. He smiled at me with his characteristically warm smile while making a silent oath to never let the other gods approach me with intentions to harm me. 

He continued walking further into the castle before we came to a stop in front of a door. He turned to me and spoke for the first time since I had regained my freedom.

"Kiddo, this is your room. Would you like to explore it?"

"Yes, please." I replied simply, attempting to hide my excitement at the prospect of my own room. My father, seeing my ill attempts to hide my excitement, chuckled before opening the door to my new room, motioning for me to enter first. 

As I walked inside, I gasped at the majesty of my room. The massive ceiling blazed with constellations and twinkling stars; a king-sized bed dominated one side. The dark wood frame, gilded with silver, held the soft lavender covers, which contrasted beautifully with the frame. On the opposite side, there stood a two-story library with bookshelves crafted from the same dark wood as the bedframe, but without the silver accents. Instead, the shelves featured elaborate carvings depicting the world. The spiral staircase led to the second floor, which had a balcony looking over the entire room with seats dotted around for when I would be reading. The last thing I noticed were two doors at the back, one of which led to a bathroom, a shower with pristine white tiles so well polished they looked closer to a mirror. Opposite the shower, a bathtub, large enough to be a pool, was sunk into the floor. A small, dark blue portal on the wall behind it constantly supplied hot water. Finally, near the door, a mirror was set into the wall above a white marble sink with the cabinets below the sink formed of the same dark wood that decorated my room. The Divine enchantment of the faucet allowed for it to be turned on and off as well as allowing for both hot and cold water. The other door led to an expansive closet filled with the dizzying sight of hundreds of different articles of clothing, so many that I could wear a different outfit for every day of the year and not get through all the clothes. I walked further into the–my room, that fact hadn't quite sunk in yet, and as I walked around, I noticed strange fluctuations in my room. It felt like the space was being enlarged to fit my room. This is when I noticed I could actually see the divine power around me. Wisps of spatial power flitted across my vision and as I reached out to touch one, a hand suddenly appeared, stopping me from doing so. 

"Be careful there kiddo, that's pure spatial power right there. I'm honestly shocked that you're able to see it, but if you break the thread of power this room might collapse." He says, sighing internally about the amount of times he's accidentally done that. 

"Oh I'm sorry dad, I didn't realise." I replied, still in shock from the suddenness of everything, after I apologised to my father, he let go of my hand, looking at me with neither the disappointment nor anger I expected, but with pride. 

"How intriguing… This makes things easier then." He muttered, looking at how the wisps of power gathered around me, almost as if celebrating my existence. After a little thinking, he came to a decision.

"Okay, I'll give you a few days to settle in and get used to the place, then after that we'll officially start with lessons." After hearing him say this, my ears and eyes perked up, my hands itched at the excitement of being able to touch and manipulate these beautiful ethereal wisps of power. I ran over and embraced my dad in excitement and gratitude for not only rescuing me, but for how comfortable he made me feel. 

"Thank you so much, dad." I say with my face buried in his warm chest. I felt one of his arms encircle me, hugging me back. He used the other hand to pat my head. After a little while, I left his embrace, my cheeks a little flush with embarrassment at how quickly I became comfortable with him. He smiled and told me to get ready, as his lessons would be hard, before he turned around and left the room, wishing me goodnight. 

To satiate my growing curiosity, I poked around my new room for a bit before finding myself standing before the library. A note left by my dad was on the table next to the shelves. It read: 

'Hey kiddo,

This library has a unique function. Simply envision your desired reading material while infusing Divine Power into the shelf and watch as books fill the shelves. Well then, have at it Alex. I built this entire room for you, so do what you want.

Love, Dad'

After reading it, I smiled a little at my dad's antics. I wanted to test out the library function by trying to find books on Divine Power theory to supplement my limited knowledge on the subject. So I tried to locate the place where I needed to inject my Divine Power into and started the process of figuring out how to do it. I touched my hand to the soft and warm wood, and after closing my eyes, I felt a little pathway form between myself and the myriad of bookshelves in the library. As I felt the connection, I noticed a minor pull on the cool wisps of Divine Energy coursing through my veins and I remembered what the note said and willed the shelves to fill up with books on Divine Power theory. Slowly opening my eyes, I fully expected to see the empty bookshelves I saw before, but to my surprise, they were filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of tomes. Each tome had its own unique aura. Seeing this, I backed away slightly in awe at the sheer scale of the library before me.

After I shook off the shock of seeing the shelves fill itself with books. I began perusing through the shelves, looking for a book that caught my fancy. When I noticed a nondescript volume on a shelf, I picked it up and was slightly confused, as there was no title on the cover or spine. I wondered if I made a mistake, but just in case, I opened the book. As I opened the book, I saw a simple name on the front page.

'Divine Power and its Uses

By. Rosa Vaes'

Something about this book drew me in and that sense had strengthened now I had it in my hands so, I decided that this was the book I'd read. However, sleep beckons me, so it'll have to wait till tomorrow as I was about to collapse from the exhaustion of the day. So I placed it down on the table with the note and climbed onto my bed. As soon as I got on it, I noticed how comfortable it was. I could barely feel the mattress under me as it conformed a little around my body. It felt like I was floating. As I lay on my bed, the events of today kept replaying in my mind, then it truly dawned on me. I was finally free.