Ghapter 11

  I left the school in a daze. The Emperor would want to meet me? Why? What did Teacher mean by the Emperor calling that Pattern a helicopter? That was from my old life. Helicopters didn't exist thousands of years ago there, and if the Emperor were a transmigrate like me who had been here for over two thousand years, then he would likely have been from a time before Christ. Even the concept of the helicopter by Leonardo da Vinci was done in the late 1480's, only five hundred and forty years or so before my death. Time didn't seem to move differently here, and I have already done the math for years, and even if it's not quite an exact match, it was close enough to a year on Earth, that it wouldn't turn fifty years, or even five hundred into thousands. So what was going on? The only thing I could think of is that maybe I spent that much time in the abyss, and someone else reincarnated here first from around my time. After all, I did relive my life more times than I can count in the abyss. It's entirely possible that the time I relived was in real-time, or close enough that the actual time passed while I was reliving it.

  That night, I didn't practice my trance, I just went to bed, thinking about what this all meant. By the morning, I had barely slept, and still had no idea. I could think of several things, but without concrete proof, I didn't know. How would I bring this up when I did meet him, or would I even have to. "Oh yes, Hi, I'm from 2020 on Earth, I died of a disease we called Covid because I was too old to fight it at the time. You?" Yeah that would go over well. What was he going to say "Oh yeah, I remember Covid." Not likely, I chuckled a bit under my breath.

  I did my usual morning routine, got dressed, and ate breakfast. I started to head towards the school, but my mother called out to me, "Jorth! You graduated, remember? You just have to wait for your letter to Weaver Academy."

  "I know, mom, but I'd like to ask Teacher some questions if I may."

  "Okay, son, but don't be too long."

  "I won't" I promised, and headed to the school. When I got there, I started looking around for Teacher, but he was not there. Instead, a rather young lady was at his location, without any students. "Excuse me, Miss, I'm looking for the man who teaches Threads, do you know where he is?"

  "Oh, he left late last night, said he had to go to the capital for some reason. Didn't so much as ask me to teach his class. Are you in his class?"

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  "Not anymore, I did my final pattern yesterday," I replied. "Did he say when he would be back?"

  "He didn't, but the way he made it sound when he left, never could very well be the answer to that," she said, "Hopefully, they find a permanent teacher for Threads before then. I can barely touch the Spool, none the less create a proper Pattern. I barely passed Threads, and was not powerful enough to get into Weaver Academy. Though, I heard there was someone that recently graduated here that could possibly rival the Emperor, though I doubt anyone is that powerful. Imagine, someone that powerful existing, and no one having heard their name. You said you recently graduated with him, did you meet this mysterious powerful person?"

  "I was the only one in class for awhile, so I can't say I have. Maybe it was another town?" I suggested. I suspected she was talking about me, but I was not about to put myself out there like that for someone I had just barely met.

  "Possibly, but they were very specific. Are you sure there was no one else in your class?"

  "Only Froja, who graduated a few months ago with her final Pattern and went to Weaver Academy. I'm hoping I get my letter for it soon, I can't wait to learn more Patterns!" I said excitedly.

  "Oh, you're lucky if they let you in. You're what? Fourteen?"

  "About that. If I have to wait a year or two, I will. I just want to start as soon as I can."

  "Well, good luck. If Teacher comes back, I'll let him know you were looking for him, but the odds aren't very high on that, so keep your gold tight."

  "Thank you," I replied, and left. I hadn't the foggiest idea of what I could do now, but I suspected it wouldn't be long before I found out. When I did, it definitely was not what I expected.

  POV: The Emperor

  He'd been doing this for so long. Running this Empire since before any one currently living had been born. Thousands of years that stretched back into the past in an unbroken thread. He had used his power to gain control of the countries that then plagued the lands with their constant wars. Once they were under control, he started adding concepts from modern day governments. He changed some things that he hadn't liked in his original world, and he was pretty sure they worked out better his way. That said, he was tired. He knew another from Earth had come, finally. His visions had told him that the only way he could escape this, was when another came to take his place. He was ready for that to happen. 1986 felt like so long ago. Yet he still remembered the explosion, as the vessel disintegrated around him and six others. It had only been 73 seconds since they had taken off. When he had come to this world, his name had been changed, but in his heart, he was always going to be Dick.

  After Teacher had left, once known as Michael Smith, before he ended up here, the Emperor sat down and thought. He had much to think about regarding this Jorth. Was he the one he needed? He hoped so, because he was tired of ruling. He just wanted peace and quiet. He just hoped he had time to enjoy it.