Chapter 53: Infighting

  Erik had little else to do than hang around the base. Creeped out about the fact that anyone could be spying on him, he only worked out and practised in the hangar. He had found he quite enjoyed the routine he got into in Africa, so he figured he would keep it up.

  Before he got resurrected as a magical entity, he hated exercising. Maybe the reason he liked it now was it not tiring him as much. He could keep at it for hours and not break a sweat. He wouldn’t ache after an intense workout, either.

  In the middle of a set of sit-ups, Erik remembered the boy and the mother he had stumbled on in the woods in the middle of nowhere in Norway. The boy had asked if he was a superhero. To soothe the kid’s mind, Erik said yes even though he didn’t feel like one, especially not back then. He had brawled a Hellbeast to a tie, at best.

  That same Hellbeast had somehow evolved and found Erik in Africa, halfway around the world a few weeks later. That couldn’t be a coincidence. The first Hellbeast he had ever fought. The only Hellbeast Erik had fought and hadn’t killed.

  Did it hunt him, or did someone send it there? Both were plausible, but something else was at play, Erik could feel it in his bones. He remembered the fire. When had he forgotten that the flames were black? Or rather, when had he remembered?

  Erik continued his exercise until he felt the now-familiar aura of Jessie crawling about the room in search of something. When it mingled with his own, it stopped spreading outwards and rather focused towards Erik. Communicating with auras this way felt peculiar…intimate. Jessie was already proving to be exceptional at her aura control.

  Erik took the hint and stopped in the middle of his set of push ups, heading upstairs towards the improvised barracks.

  “Have I mentioned you look a lot better now?” Jessie asked the sweaty man entering the room with no shirt.

  “You mean better than torn up and bleeding?”

  “No, I mean after Afterlife. You were borderline chubby, after all. Now you’re almost fit,” Jessie winked.

  “Ha-ha. Yeah, it just… kind of went away. But I’m not the only one! You lost a bit of flab on your stomach as well, and you have a slenderer waist.”

  “Careful, soldier,” Jessie said, feigning offence.

  “Do you think magic is sculpting us? Our bodies, I mean?” Erik asked, a question he’d been asking himself since he noticed he had got more fit in almost an instance.

  “‘Sculpted’ is the exact right word. I still got a killer ass, and my boobs haven’t shrunk a bit, just got firmer. Those Hollywood people would slay to be on what we’re on right now,” Jessie answered.

  “Anyway, are you done absorbing your experiences?” Erik asked after a mutual rambling session.

  “Yup! I’m ready for stage two.”

  “Okay. So now that you’ve made those memories a part of you—a part of your body, mind, and soul—you Contemplate. There isn’t a fixed way to do this, just do what feels right. What you should be doing, is go through those memories again, but try using the most substantial ones first.”

  “Those heavy ones? I felt some that were so heavy, like the beach fight in particular,” Jessie asked.

  “Those are the ones. I felt them more…deep blue and solid, or substantial, but then again, in my world they came from the sea—a bit like water bubbles,” Erik confirmed.

  “Makes sense, I guess. Mine were heavy, I guess you would call it. It pushed everything else up and away, kind of. So, what do I do with them?”

  “You replay them again, but this time, reflect on what could’ve been different. Think about what you could’ve done instead of what the memory shows you. You shot a water scythe at that beast? What would’ve happened if you used a wind scythe instead? What about earth? If Grace was there, what if she wasn’t?

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “It doesn’t matter whether the outcome you think of ends well or poorly, as it’s all just…derivative experience? Store those new, ‘potential’ memories separate, like raw and edited footage, then go at another memory. Start slow and get the feel of what works for you. By the end, I could go through up to three similar memories at once and adjust all three differently, though that was mentally exhausting.”

  “It sounds like it’ll take a lot of focus on just the one memory.” Jessie groaned.

  “Use your mindplace. It might’ve helped to have the time dilation I get there, but even without it, you should be able to focus your mind on a lot more. You’re not using your real-world senses or anything in there, after all,” Erik explained, having got the same lecture from Cross, though just as a warning seeing that he was already in his mindplace.

  “It’s hard to remember that, even when I’m there.”

  “I know. It’s like having a whole other life, being a different animal, and we’re supposed to just switch between them with a snap of our fingers? It’ll take time to get used to. For me at least,” Erik said.

  Jessie exhaled through a rounded mouth, gave Erik a smile that said ‘wish me luck’ before her Crest started glowing red through her black top. He didn’t feel the need to get back to exercising. Instead, he sat down next to Jessie on the bed he had slept in that night and took a deep breath.

  Her fragrance always soothed him, and the effect was intensified by her aura—enveloping both like gentle breeze—unaffected by Erik’s own grey wavelike aura. Her aura acted nothing like Sun or Tuwa’s, either.

  It might be the fact that everyone was a bit on edge, but the three auras that night in Africa kept colliding with each other, fighting for the space they each occupied. It wasn’t aggressive, but much like bodies bumping into each other on a bus filled to the brim.

  Erik and Jessie’s auras seemed to occupy the same space. Jessie’s aura acted more like particles to Erik’s waves. Like dust in the wind. His Crest started glowing red as he went into himself.

  The Titan stood on the lake of Leviathan Island. He had found this place calming, and the sight from the middle of the lake was beautiful, as he could see all the landmarks from here, even the large Leviathan body’s head and legs surrounding him from far away.

  All alone he stood on the still water, gazing over his own world with pride and awe both. He couldn’t see Jack’s landmark anywhere, though. He had absorbed the crystal into a minor slot connected to Authority, Sovereign’s ability. Erik felt the two were an excellent match, especially considering their powers.

  “Everyone?” Erik asked, feeling only a minute displacement of air. He turned to see his spirits gathered behind him, some still taking shape, like Licious growing from roots appearing from beneath the surface of the water, and Gloom bubbling from a dark spot, rising and taking shape.

  In the middle of the spirit band was Cross, her crimson heavy armour reflecting sunlight-turned-red as her cape flapped in the faux breeze. A cacophony of ‘Eriks’ and ‘Masters’ and ‘Titans’ sounded in greeting from the bunch.

  “I think it’s time we had a talk, all of us together. I hope you’ve all met, or socialised, or…whatever you do when I’m not here. Last time I was here, I realised I haven’t been spending time with any of you besides training, and I want to learn more from you than that. I want to learn about you spirits and about your realm. This time it’s social, though I’m not forcing anyone to be here. I want to get to know you all better.”

  Erik looked at the silent mass of spirits, none of them even looking at each other. They just stared at him.

  “Master Erik, we aren’t…—”

  “Please, Sovereign. Just Erik,” Erik interrupted.

  “Quite. We spirits aren’t what you’d call…social. At least, not how you’d expect. We have no trouble communicating with each other spiritually. We don’t get together in large numbers, as that can cause quite a few…disturbances around us.”

  “Oh. See, I’m learning already! Anyway, in that case, I won’t take up more of your time. I’m sorry for interrupting your…activities?”

  “The Titan calls, and you bunch of eggheads dare to decline?” a female voice boomed across the lake.

  “Eggheads?” Erik asked as Cross stepped forward with purposeful steps.

  “I thought spiritkind had rid themselves of such worthless characters long ago. Can you not take even a moment to bathe in the light of your Titan?” she said, the volume of her words increasing until it reached shouting level.

  “It’s really—” Erik started, but another booming voice interrupted him, this one male.

  “Ancestor! Take us not for fools, nor the weak spirits of past. We are all happy to partake in the Master Titan’s will,” said Sovereign, also stepping forward. The rest of the spirits offered him passage.

  “Silence! You dare speak back against your Ancestor?” Cross shouted, turning to the other spirit.

  “Guys, stop—”

  “You might be the Ancestor, but we still have our own free will! Have you forgotten the Accords? You were there to sign them yourself as one of the Revered!”

  “I remember. Prepare yourself, idiot,” Cross said, a red and black ornate blade appearing from thin air in her hand, the blade as massive as her own armour. She swung the blade in an intimidating manner, creating aggressive waves on the lake that threatened to crash into everyone.

  Had she just called Sovereign an idiot?