When it came to prophecies, there was only one place to go. Crypian had been very quiet since installing himself into my empire. Fortunately, the villagers were all on my side. They quickly informed me that he had taken up residence in Kalliville.

For the first time since I arrived in Gaia, I returned to the village where it all began. Crypian was waiting for my arrival. Looking as though he hadn’t slept in days, he began, “I knew you would come. That’s the problem though. I always know. Even when I don’t want to know, I know. And you’d think that as a man who can make his own prophecies I should be able to choose my own destiny but it’s not that simple. I may begin the prophecy with the very best of intentions in mind but the magic known as fate always twists it. I’m afraid I may have murdered a great many people by prophecying your arrival.”

The anger I had felt at the prophet dissipated as I listened to him tear himself down. Taking a steadying breath to calm myself, I sat in front of him and said, “Tell me about the prophecy.”

Crypian looked up frantically, as though he wanted to curse the gods who gave him his gift. Then in a subdued voice, he began his story. “You see, I always thought it would be the best skill in the world to be able to write my own destiny. I imagined a skill that would make anything I want just by speaking the words. For a while, it did exactly that. Occasionally, there would be hiccup where I could only give a prophecy with a small caveat but it never caused any problems. Until I made my way to the capital, that was. Then everything went wrong.”

I waited patiently for Crypian to collect himself. He seemed to struggle with the memory as he went on. “I just wanted to impress everybody. What better way to do that than a big prophecy. It all started with a story about the arrival of a hero. Like I said, up until then, the quirks with my prophecies were minor. I wanted to say that the hero would be me. However, it got complicated.”

The prophet was leaving out the most important part of the story. I decided to go with the gentle approach and spoke in a soft voice. “How about you just tell me the prophecy that started all of this. That’s a good place to start from, right?”

“Very well.” He sighed, steeling himself for what he was about to say.

His voice echoed with a thousand ancient voices when he recited the prophecy.

A Hero’s Requiem

On the fourth day of the seventh moon, a blazing beacon will signify that the light is coming soon.

Taken from Gaia by the cruel winds of fate, the flame shall return before it’s too late.

Drawn to the land of infinite plains, the arrival of the heir will bring balance again.

When Crypian paused dramatically, I waited for him to continue. He let out a sigh and his voice returned to normal. “I’m done.”

The first thing that I wondered about was the prophet’s voice. “Why did you sound different? You told us a prophecy before and your voice didn’t change.”

Crypian laughed nervously and explained, “That’s my big prophecy voice. I was showing off when I made that one and it got away from me. I don’t know how to explain it but I can occasionally make the prophecy more powerful.”

I recited the prophecy a couple of times in my head. There was no doubt that it was about Kalli and me. The problem was that it didn’t make sense. I turned back to the prophet and asked, “Why does balance scare people? And why would they plague this place even if it is the land of infinite plains from the prophecy?”

“The word balance scares them,” Crypian said, his disdain in his voice unmistakable. “I knew it was a mistake as soon as I said it. Those people don’t want a hero. They are the reason the world needs a hero. I was so naive.”

I looked around the bustling village around us, curious why Crypian chose to return to the first village. “Your story doesn’t explain why you came to the dark lands. Why are you here and what are you trying to do?”

He shrugged helplessly, a wild look in his eyes. “Fix it? Break it? I don’t know. I couldn’t very well sit back and do nothing. I caused all of this so it’s up to me to make things right. I didn’t know about the plague until I got here but it would have served me right if I caught it. Every death out here is my fault.”

I laughed, causing the prophet to gasp and begin sobbing. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I said, “You didn’t cause this. From the sounds of things, your skill is sort of like telling the future. You said it yourself, you can’t make it up. Not entirely, in any case. You can only prophecy things that are going to happen anyway.”

“What do you mean?” He said, hiccuping as he composed himself. “I make the prophecy. Things happen because I say they will.”

Not removing my hand from his shoulder, I supplied, “Have you ever tried to make a prophecy that was impossible?”

Crypian blinked at me in silence as his brain tried to process what I was asking of him. “I don’t understand. How can I make an impossible prophecy?”

“I don’t know.” I began. “How about you make a prophecy that the sky is red. Or someone you know is dead appears in this village?”

The look of horror on Crypian’s face told me that he thought it was a very bad idea. “Do you truly want those things to come true? I promise that if I make a prophecy about them, they will happen.”

I gave Crypian my most reassuring smile and said, “I have an idea. Do you trust me?”

He looked skeptical but nodded. “What do you want to do?”

I whispered, “Make a prophecy that I will be able to make a prophecy.”

“But what good will that…”He stammered.

I cut him off by holding up a finger. “Just try it.”

Taking a deep breath, he said, “Very well. I hereby prophesy that you can give prophecies just like I can.”

He stopped talking, tasting the air, waiting for something. “That’s odd. Usually, there’s more.”

Wordlessly reaching down, I took the prophet’s hand and pushed my mana into him. Unsurprisingly, his channels were empty. I made my way to his core while wondering what I would find in there. The whispers hit me before I saw it. The golden ball within Crypian swirled with shimmering talismans, each of which whispered divine secrets that were too subtle to make out.

Bracing myself for the impact, I connected the mana that I had looped through his system to his core. The feedback was intense and expelled me into the middle of the village square.

NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: [DARK PROCLAMATION]

Dusting myself off, I made my way back over to Crypian. I had to triple-check my menu to make sure I didn’t get the curse along with the skill.

Skills

Traits

World Editor

Bloodline: M

Manipulation

Bloodline: Shaw

Controlling Voice

Bloodline: Ramsey

Buff (Edited)

Enhanced Regeneration

Summon (Edited)

Enhanced Mana Regeneration

Command Attention

Absorption

Formulate

Control

Cloud Judgement

God Eye (Edited)

Assimilate Technology

Perfect Pitch

Dark Proclamation

Mantis Style

Track Scent

Magical Plague Immunity(Edited)

Matechat[Kalliphae Hellquist] (Edited)

Inseperable[Kalliphae Hellquist]

Intertwined[Kalliphae Hellquist]

Till Death Do You Part [Kalliphae Hellquist]

The sight of my skills made me gasp. I had just pruned it. Making my way back over to Crypian, I said, “There. Your prophecy came true.”

He wasn’t listening though. Crypian was too busy waving his arms around. “What did you do to me? This feels great. I feel like I can make anything happen now.”

“Oh, right. That.” I laughed. “I just opened your mana channels. Now you can use your skills more efficiently. If you learn how to feel your skills, you can even use them in new ways that you couldn’t before.”

The question was, what exactly did Dark Proclamation do? Was it the big prophecy that scared the people in the capital? Would my voice sound weird if I tried to use it? Could I use it for something simple like summoning myself an ice cream cone?

Kalli was reading my mind. I want ice cream.

I laughed, wishing I could give her some.

Me too.

Trying to think of a simple prophecy, I whispered, “You will fall asleep.”

Nothing happened. So I tried again. “Crypian, you will fall asleep.”

He eyed me suspiciously. “Do you think you can suddenly make a prophecy just because I said you could? First off, it doesn’t work that easily. Second, you can’t be vague like that. Of course, I will fall asleep. When I sleep. Tonight. You need to use the word ‘now’ if you want any shot at it working. ‘Right now’ or even the specific time you want me to do it would be better. Making vague prophecies just makes morons mistranslate them and do stupid things.”

“Fine.” I barked, mad at having to be told how it worked. “You will fall asleep. Right. This. Second.”

For a minute, I feared that the skill hadn’t worked again. Then Crypian stretched his arms above his head and yawned loudly. He glared at me and said, “This has nothing to do with what you said. I’ve just been up all night and need a nap. Will you be here in the morning?”

I shook my head. There were things to do.

Back at the border, I questioned my favorite guard captain again. “Who gave the royal decree to quarantine this land?”

He coughed and wheezed, trying his best to get spittle on me. “Why should I tell you anything? Just let me die.”

I sighed, taking a step back. “Or I could let you live. Have you ever thought of that? Why not just tell me what I want to know.”

Kalli hissed in my ear. Just cure him already. Stop being mean.

Fine.

I walked back over to the guard and touched his hand, causing him to flinch away from me. “Please, don’t hurt me.”

Beginning the process of cleansing his blood, I said, “I’m not. I’m curing you. Just try to relax. You’ll be immune to the plague soon.”

“That’s impossible.” The guard bellowed. “I was told that plague is impossible to cure, and almost universally fatal, especially to awakened.”

I smacked him in the back of the head with my free hand as I finished wringing the plague from his blood. “That’s for being evil. Now, tell me who ordered the quarantine.”

The man gaped at me as Kalli explained. Mel, there’s only one king on Gaia. King Dabia.

Oh.

I stared at the guard, who was panting on the floor, probably not convinced that he was cured. When he looked up, I said, “Never mind that last question. Tell me how to end this plague. Where is it coming from?”

“Like I would ever tell you.” The guard said, his voice dripping with malice.

I laughed, trying out my new skill. “I prophecy that you will tell me everything.”

The guard grunted and began, “When I was a child…”