Chapter 19: The Final Merge

  Erik returned to his magic sea. The enormous cliff with the rushing waterfall was still there, just as he thought it would be. As he was standing in the black void outside the sphere of magic, he could withdraw from the sphere, giving the cliff a slight curvature as the sphere shrank. It was part of the whole now.

  He went back in front of the sphere again. It felt the same, but it also felt like more. He was getting a bit tired of magic confusing his senses so much. It felt paradoxical most times. Like hot and cold at the same time. Wet and dry. In front of him and inside of him both.

  Erik placed his right hand into the sphere, reminiscing about the last time he had done so. The feeling—that part of him was submerged in water and the rest of him not—remained, but he didn’t know which part was which. He tried expanding his senses both into the black void around him and around the sphere.

  Something within the blackness prevented him from sensing anywhere but the exact place he was. It was a resistance without will, as if it were just not within the laws of physics.

  The sphere, on the other hand, had no problem letting his senses envelop it in its entirety. It felt like it was asking him why he hadn’t done it sooner. The first time he awakened his power, he let the sphere drown him in magic as the sea enveloped him. That had felt right back then, but it didn’t anymore.

  He was already awakened. Earlier he had reached into it, practically poking and prodding information out of it. He hadn’t thought of making himself envelop the massive sphere back then. It wasn’t until he was absorbing another power that he realised his will, his focus, were much more in this place.

  It was how he had broken away the mysterious talking form that had blanketed him. He expanded his own willpower with such force, and it pushed the visage away. That first experience led to him now covering his magical sphere with his will.

  This was how it was supposed to be done, he realised. The magic didn’t own him. They weren’t separate from each other. It was part of him. He covered the sphere and felt almost whole. But nothing had changed. It wouldn’t. He was missing something.

  Was it more powers? No. He was missing a clue, but he had all the pieces. He could figure this out. He could make it work now.

  ‘What am I missing?’ he asked himself. He felt like hours had passed as he considered what he could do. A form—much like the usual one, but different—visited him. He decided he wouldn’t give it any thought.

  The last time one of these forms appeared, it had almost caused him to fail the merge of magic. Even if this wasn’t the same spectre, as its colour had a gentle, glowing sheen of pink and orange with a golden core, he didn’t trust it. Unlike the other one, this one hadn’t said a word, which bothered Erik. It was there for over an hour, watching Erik before the Remnant had had enough.

  “What do you want?” he asked, turning to the shape. He didn’t get any response from it except that it undulated like normal. “Can you at least just leave me alone?”

  Nothing. Erik realised the new form might have something to do with the fresh addition to his sphere—the waterfall. The imperial gold quartz he had absorbed had similar colours, now that he thought about it. The other form resembled his Crest with the black swirls inside it. Could it be? Was this thing a manifestation of his power?

  In that case, why didn’t either of them help him? The first one muttered utter nonsense about Titans and crosses, trying to ruin his absorption of another power. Or did it? It had said to ‘join the Titan’ as it enveloped him. Despite Erik losing his grasp on the links he was pulling in, the two didn’t start drifting further away from each other.

  Did the form help him hold the two strings taut? Was it trying to help, rather than sabotage? It didn’t matter. He had to find what he was missing with the sphere.

  What did he know? What did he feel? It was a part of him. They were the same. His will and its will were joining yet couldn’t complete the merge. What if their will wasn’t the only thing that had to merge? Could it be that easy?

  Erik looked towards the form still watching him. It somehow seemed to sense what he was thinking, as it undulated more violently. Whether it was excited or angry, he couldn’t tell. It was something at least, so Erik decided to try it.

  His will already blanketed the magical sphere. He started to push his body into the sphere. If it was part of him, he had to merge it with both his will and his physical body, right? Struggling to keep his focus enveloping the sphere as he submerged himself in it, he soon found himself immersed.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Separating his willpower and his body felt odd at first, but after a few seconds, his willpower reached his body again even inside the sphere. It wasn’t just covering it anymore; it had merged with its waters. His own will and the contents of the sphere had now merged, and he could do nothing but let his physical body melt away in the waters as well.

  It wasn’t hot and cold anymore; he wasn’t hiding out in the black void. He became one. Whole. It felt like several more hours went by as his body broke down into its base molecules. He could sense himself within each of those molecules, melding together with everything else around him.

  Soon enough, he was the sphere. His instincts kicked in, and he easily manifested a copy of his body atop the cliff. The rushing sound of the waterfall was soothing, even more so than the feel of soft grass on his naked feet. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose. He didn’t exhale immediately. The air was incredibly fresh. It was nothing like the air on Earth. Even the air in Afterlife had nothing on this great air.

  The golden cored form appeared behind him, but it didn’t look the same anymore. While both forms had been vaguely humanoid-shaped, this one was now a full-formed being. It was still made of the same stuff, with a pink and orange glow. The colours undulated every few seconds, but its form, now humanoid, was unmistakable.

  He had horns growing from each temple, reaching around the side of his head and ending in twin points pointing towards the sky at the back of his head. His body and clothes were from the same matter, a cloak billowing gently in the weak breeze at the top of the cliff.

  “Master Titan,” the man said, bowing deeply before Erik.

  “Hi there,” Erik responded, still analysing the thing in front of him.

  “I am happy you completed your core in such a timely manner, Master Titan. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sovereign Faith, Avatar of Authority,” the man-thing said, not even looking up from the ground as he bowed.

  “Please, call me Erik,” Erik said, wondering what was happening. Sovereign Faith was what Jessie had called the quartz he absorbed, wasn’t it? That meant her little bonus-ability related to this thing. “Stand up, please. What are you?”

  “Of course… Erik,” Sovereign Faith said, rising to his feet and meeting the Remnant’s eyes. “I am Sovereign Faith, Avatar of Authority,” it repeated.

  “Thanks, Sovereign, but I meant what are you? Why are you here?”

  “I am a spirit, of course. You absorbed me, letting me in as part of your whole.”

  It was as Erik had started to suspect. The second form appearing after the second power was absorbed, the similar colours, even using the name Jessie called the quartz. Was the creature in front of him now the power he had absorbed manifesting itself? In that case, what was the waterfall?

  “I see,” Erik lied. “Where’s the other guy?”

  “Resting. I’m sorry to say, the…misunderstanding between you during the absorption weakened her. Please understand that none of us are opposing you, Master Titan,” Sovereign answered, bowing his head.

  “In that case, I guess I’ll talk to her later. If she was only trying to help, I’ll apologise. Her appearance and the way she surrounded me, it felt like she was trying to sabotage the absorption.”

  “She told me as much. You need not worry. Communing with each other will be easier now that you have become whole.”

  “I’m glad. It feels like I’ve been here for hours, so I should get back out there. I trust I’ll see you later? I’ve got several more questions to the both of you,” Erik said.

  “Of course, Erik.”

  “Bye, then,” the Remnant said, and the world around him vanished.

  He opened his eyes again, meeting Sophie’s gaze. Then, he looked to where Jessie had been the last time he saw her, but she was gone. A sound caught his attention, and he found her sound asleep behind him.

  “That took a while,” Sophie said. “Any more problems? Your core-thingy kept lighting up, but the last minute or so it has been acting, uh… normal?”

  “How long have I been under?” he asked with a lowered voice, hoping not to wake Jessie. If she had gone through the same as him, she’d likely be tired as well. Erik was beat.

  “Half an hour or so. It wasn’t long. Jessie woke up only half a minute or so after you went under. She said she got what the ability was, but wanted to keep it a secret for now. She was grinning, though.”

  “I feel like I’ve been gone for hours. There were some problems, but I managed to work through them. Now, I feel… great. But I forgot about learning about the ability. I…” Erik said, then stopped talking. He looked confused, but had realised something. “I think we’ve been doing it wrong the entire time. I think I understand why Jessie reacted the way she did earlier, as well,” Erik continued, with a wide smile on his face.

  “Really? What was it?”

  “I’ll tell you guys tomorrow. Jessie would want to know as well. I should get back to my room and let you guys sleep.” Erik rose from the bed and Sophie did as well just as he did.

  “You don’t have to go. It’s only about 9pm,” she said.

  “No, I think I should go. We’ll see each other tomorrow.”

  “Can’t you keep me company a little while more?” Sophie then asked, her lips turned down slightly.

  Erik looked at her, then Jessie. He didn’t want to wake her. They had been up and at it the whole day and the absorption seemed to take a good deal of energy. It was hard to say no to Sophie though. That look in her eyes. It was almost sadness, yet not quite there. She was a people person, only reaching her full potential when around other people.

  Still, it was just for the night and Erik was tired. They had visited every shop they could think of that day, so now they had to wait until Angela and Emma returned with their haul. That should be the next evening. That meant they had an entire day to relax. She could wait until then, right?

  “Sorry,” Erik said, her mood dropping. “We’ll hang tomorrow, okay?”

  “O-Okay,” she said. She shared a smile.

  They said good night and Erik left their hotel room for his own. He couldn’t wait to get to sleep. Erik entered his own room, undressed and went to bed. He fell asleep almost instantly.