《Into the void》Chapter 11: Not a lot of Options
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I had hoped that this whole debacle was just one excruciating dream and that in the morning I would wake up to her face. That seemed to be less and less likely as time passed on.
From hope and life to death and despair in an instant. One moment we're facing a being whose flesh resembled a vast cosmos the next we're flung to a random planet and shoved inside bodies.
The drop down had revealed the vastness of space and the beauty of the planet to me. But I couldn't exactly admire the scenery when I was worried about surviving. Thankfully we never made it to the ground, since we were almost immediately shoved in these bodies.
Yet with all that had happened, I almost wish we hadn't been. Currently, I feel the grass tickling me as my back rested against the ground.
I had been given too much information and needed to digest it properly. I was alive but I was far away from my home. The only way to get was seemingly to live an entire life with a girl that I was 20 years my junior.
I would rather be in a firefight right now. At least I was used to that and at worst I would be killed in combat.
I felt the anger bubbling inside me, but it shoved it down. It would de me no good. Anger against the unchangeable only bred hopelessness. I knew that well.
I heard the shifting of grass and turned to face Alexis; she had risen into a sitting position. Her face was still unnaturally still, the calm before the storm.
"What do we do now?" she asked as she focused her attention on me.
"Right now, we need shelter food and water. We can worry about the rest when we are safe." She only nodded in agreement.
Quickly after I stood up to get a better lay of the land and was mildly surprised by how tall the grass was. I could be considered a pretty towering figure at 189 centimeters, yet the grass still reached my chest.
Speaking of the grass, at the bottom it had seemed to be of green color at the top was an array of shiny rainbow colors. They also smelled extremely good.
Which is why I knew that we had to leave immediately. In nature, things don't usually smell this good unless they're purposely cultivated, or they were meant to attract insects.
The grassy plain stretched for miles so any insect it attracted would be here in great amounts. Those little buggers could sometimes be the greatest danger of nature.
I also disliked the limited vision I had. Anything could be lurking in them and I wouldn't even know.
To the north of my current position were several mountains that stretched up into the sky. All other directions were filled with grass as far as the eye could see with the occasional massive tree scattered around.
"We head for the mountains." I got no reply, turning around I was greeted by the sight of her praying. She still had faith huh. I had lost mine a long time ago, but I wasn't going to interrupt her.
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She needed this.
"You're right the mountains are the safest." she said only moments later as she stood up. Her head barely elevated above the grass.
"What makes you say that?” I had suggested the mountains myself, but I wanted to see if we had the same reasoning.
"The mountains look tall enough to have snow at the top which means there's a chance of a stream existing due to snow melting. We might also find a cave for shelter." So, she had the same thought process as I did, good, she wasn't useless at outdoor survival.
"The winds also say that it's the least dangerous area.”
"I'm sorry what? “
She turned to me eyebrow raised. “Didn't you get the title?”
In the same moment that she mentioned it, I felt something deep within me shift, and on an instinctual level, I knew that I was [The Numerologist].
I remembered now that the being had spoken about power or titles. I didn't know what mine meant apart from it having to with numbers.
"What's your title?" I asked. She opened her mouth to reply but no sound came out. She frowned before trying once again yet no sound came out.
What was she doing? Did she not want to tell me her title?
She seemed to be contemplating something.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I was slightly irritated that she wouldn't tell me, but I wasn't going to force.
"Though telling me would probably help our chance of survival."
"It's not that I don't want to tell you my title, it's the fact that I can't."
I was confused "What do you mean?"
"What's your title Arnaud?" so she just wanted me to tell her my title first before she did? I didn't have a problem with that even though it seemed rather childish given our predicament.
It's ..." My throat hitched up, I tried again but once more nothing came out. No matter how many times I tried nothing would come out. So, she was being literal then. Then I tried to write on the ground, but my hands wouldn't move. It was impossible to tell each other our titles.
We could perhaps make logical deductions but we both agreed that those would be flawed and unreliable.
Another thing to add to my newly made list of absurdities
"We should start moving the longer we're here the higher the danger gets." Turning to face her I was surprised to see that she had already started walking. Still as calm as ever, I dreaded what would happen once she faced her emotions.
That didn't stop me from going with. Survival in numbers and all that. There was also the ultimatum given to us, something that I was still heavily against.
We started to head towards the mountains but only maybe an hour in we had to stop moving. When we were both transported over, we hadn't been given clothes. We had both not really given it much attention for various reasons but now as we walked in the grass, were slowly coming to terms with our situation. The full nudity was a noticeable problem.
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My skin was starting to itch, and the awkward atmosphere was not all that comfortable to be in.
Thankfully Alexis was good at weaving and the grass was strong enough to be used. She managed to make some makeshift shirts and loincloths for us. Though it had taken her quite a while to finish them.
The moment she was done we immediately started trekking at a fast pace. Apparently, the "winds" were telling her to get going.
While the mountains were far, I wasn't too worried about not making it before nightfall.
Looking at the rate that this sun seemed to move it would be nightfall in approximately 12 hours. We would be there in 5, the only worry was being mauled alive.
Perhaps due to the guidance of her "winds", we managed to make it to the mountains safely. Though it had taken more time than it should've since we would at random change directions before realigning with the mountains.
In those 7 hours of trekking, I barely felt tired and even now neither of us felt all that hungry. These new bodies were indeed much better than the old ones. At least we wouldn't have to worry about dying too quickly.
During the whole trek, not a word had been spoken by either of us. While we had gotten along fairly well before this all happened the ultimatum was still on both of our minds.
At the end of the trek, we found a temple. Which seemed rather convenient, but I guessed that was why we had been dropped in the plains.
Perhaps that being had known we would move here. I wouldn't be surprised if it did. It was old and withered and the steps leading up to were cracked.
There were symbols and writing on it but those were eroded and faded. Neither of us could make heads or tails about what they meant.
The design looked very human. This place was made by humans to be used by humans. At the very least it was made by a humanoid species. Which brought out the question that why couldn't the being just create humans?
This pointed to a limitation in its power, but that knowledge only brought me short comfort before I was reminded that the power gap was still as large as ever.
We both stood at what looked to be the main entrance. Who knows how long this temple had been here? There could be dangers hidden within it. Her powers had only told us that this was the safest place of all. According to her, she wasn't privy to much else.
"What do you think the odds are that we die in there?" After hours of silence, Alexis finally spoke.
And as she did, I felt my mind explode in pain. In an instant, my mind raced took into account all variables. Alexis's use of her powers, the new strength of our bodies, the lack of animal trials, and hundreds of other factors.
I held my head in pain as my vision darkened and the world muffled itself. I was about to pass out...but then I felt a warm gush of energy flow through me to my mind.
In that instant, I knew that there was only a 5% chance of death given all the variables. I felt exhausted and sick, my body was aching.
I could finally feel Alexis shaking and was calling me a look of worry marring her face. Her voice sounded distant and low over the ringing in my ears. I felt like someone had just detonated a flash grenade in my brain.
"Are you ok?" she asked as I finally managed to regain my composure. Looking up at her I realized that I had fallen to my knees.
"I'm fine, I think." slowly I got back up. She attempted to dissuade me, but I got up regardless. I felt fine now though I was still exhausted.
"5%"
"5% what? she asked confusion coloring her face.
"5% probability that we die in there."
Her eyes widened in surprise." Was all that from your title?
I simply nodded my mind was still foggy.” That seems like a very dangerous ability to be given."
"It's pretty useful though" I replied. While it had been painful for a power like that it was worth it. Younger me would have loved to know the probability of death back in the military.
"I guess so, but is that probability absolute or is it coming from the information you have?"
That was a good question that I hadn't thought about. It would still be valuable, but that value was just slightly reduced if that was the case. The same could be said for her title as well but she had been right so far.
Finally, we turned our attention from the little episode and refocused on the temple. "So, I'm guessing that this is now home base?" she said as we both turned to face the entrance.
It was looked like the throat of an ancient being waiting to devour us. I could feel that something was off about this place, but it was the safest place to be right.
I guess so. "The night was coming, the sun's rays were beginning to be filled with a lavender hue. Insects were buzzing in the air. Off into the distance, a sreech was heard.
"There's nowhere else to go really." She hummed in agreement.
I didn't know what this world had in store for us nor if we actually could make it back to our separate families, but we were here now.
We had to think about surviving first.
And with that thought, I entered into the mountain’s maw.
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