Chapter 13: The true, prisoner

Arlom had come back only to see Cyan still sleeping on the floor, but something was different about him, it was hard to not notice it.

'did I saw it wrong? But He was glowing for second right?'

The changes in Cyan body were no missed by Arlom, but he understood how deeply those changes were, because he was expecting them to happen, he has seen those changes in someone else before, himself, nevertheless.

‘it is way too fast’.

[Arlom]: "Cyan wake up and go to take a shower, I will handle the food"

Being called by Arlom, Cyan finally has come back from his trance? Or was it a dream? He was actually having a pleasing dream of silly tiny people that were living inside him, talking with one and other about strange things and they reference each other as the brain, the stomach and mana? And there was someone else too, but he could not remember any more details of the dream, it was a rather a stupid dream but nevertheless he was having fun in it, he got the feeling that…

´it was a quite important dream´.

Standing up Cyan could feel the weight of his body or better yet, the lack of, he was falling to the ground as soon he tried to stand up, was he still tired? Not, he was feeling as light as a feather, no it was even worse than that...

'This... how is this possible? Just before I was so tired that I could not even stand up, but now I don’t feel tired at all and I feel so light… so weightless, why I can´t stand up'

Just a while ago, gravity was pressing him down to the ground and he could not put any strength in his limbs to stand up, but now… he could not feel a thing, being tiredness or even… the gravity of this planet in his body at all.

This was different from the time when he was using his control over the mana around him to move around just to avoid the rocks, he still could feel the law of gravity pulling him down to the ground, he was just balancing the weight of his body and using his muscles to jump around, with the added bonus of using the mana too, like if that were muscles of his body.

Now, how exactly he manage to do that?, it was rather simple, he just picture it and it worked just like that, it was totally a cheat, just picturing something in your mind it became real? Was he still dreaming? Was all this a dream?

Actually, calling it control over was mana feel it rather wrong to him, he could not control mana at all, it was more like, if he was just talking with mana and asking for her help? If Cyan could picture it now, inside his body this sort thing would had happened just like that.

*Inside Cyan body (This was a while back when there in the training session)

[Body]: “Mana try to follow my every move, let's see if we can dodged the rocks this time”.

[Mana]: “Hum? Do I just copy you? Will that actually work?”

[Body]: “Who knows, but the thing is that I am the body, I move and the body moves, there are no buttons or levers or anything like that that you could press to help me move the body… so is the only thing I could think of… is that you could move… just like me?”

[Mana]: “Well I guess…is alright, then after you”

Mana was totally clueless what the body wanted to do, but in Mana mind, this was better than not doing anything, and just sit and wait, it is not like Cyan was giving her any order anytime soon either way, no, it should take a lot time for Cyan to be able to talk to her in any meaningfully way, it is better to do something meanwhile of her own will.

[Body]: “OK! follow after me, like this, Ja!”

[Mana]: “Like this?”

[Body]: “Very good, but you were a little bit off, we don’t much time so let’s carry on, next time try to follow exactly the same, now like this, Jo!”

[Mana]: “JO!”

Now an embarrassed face was put by the body, what was that shout Mana just did, of course he said to follow exactly after him, but he was now being embarrassed of being exactly copied, the body now took awareness of his movements a little.

[Body]: “Mana... you don’t have to shout too, and so laud at that”

[Mana]: “But you did it too, and you say to follow exactly after you”

[Body]: “But you can’t!”

[Mana]: “I can’t? Why not?”

[Body]: “That’s… that’s because, I am the body and only I can handle such an important task, nobody else, if anybody else do it, it would lost the effect”

[Mana]: “Really? And who told you that?”

[Body]: “Of course it was the brain”

Pointing to the brain and looking over there, the body could see the brain… laughing on the floor, rolling over it, side to side… how much time has passed since the brain has told him to say such embarrassing lines when he was moving around, how long it would take for him to notice it, that it was just a prank? The brain couldn't hold himself back.

At the beginning the body was refusing to do it, but the brain insisted on it, ‘it is necessary for you, it will make you move even faster! And even look cool! and you are the only one that can do it, nobody else, not me nor the stomach, but only you, this important task can only be done by you, nobody else can handle it, can we count on you?’, of course all these were just a bunch of lies, the brain was waiting this moment for so long that he couldn’t hold his laughter back… not one little bit.

Actually after that the last prank had never come to fruition, he grew bored and started to plan other things to do, like thinking that if he got the change he will make the body wear some ridiculous outfit and go round the schools hallways helping in his fellow schoolmates in the name of justice, how embarr… I mean, how cool would that be for the body.

As a base for his argument he will use the case of the cool secret masked warrior of justice of the past, known as ‘the warrior of the park that scared of the fifth graders when there were in fourth grade’, it was a glorious title, that the brain always remember with a proud face, as a way of hiding his own laughter over the matter that is.

Actually, all of the closest friends of Cyan knew who the masked warrior of justice of that time was, he was still was carrying the same stu… ‘cool’ backpack back in the school, that he used to defeat the fifth graders, they became his friends when they had recognized him in the school, but at the end they did not said a thing about, why they have become his friends, it was better that the ‘cool’ masked warrior of justice that they knew remained just like that, and teasing Cyan with that history of the past was a lot of fun too.

His friends teased him telling the history of the masked ally of justice from time to time, always omitting who the masked warrior actually was, at those times Cyan could dig a hole to thrown himself in.

As the brain grew bored with each passing day, he started to prepared everything for the reappearance of the cool masked hero, ally of justice and all those who are in need.

So the brain casually began his plot, plating the idea into the body.

[Brain]: “hey body, don’t you remenber back in the past, when you saved your friends back in that park? At the end they had become your best friends, funny how things work don’t you think?”

Now the body was putting a bitter smile, it was true that he acted impulsively, but never the less he does not regret it, he just regret that co… i mean stupid costume set with a mask, he put on himself, so nobody could recognized him, it was also to cover his terrified face, he was very scared of those fifth graders.

How he couldn’t be afraid? They were twice, No, they were three times his size, but he still moved to confront those bully of the weak.

Nevertheless he had never dared to put that stupid mask again, he also had stored it in the secrets of places that nobody would ever find out, under his bed.

‘Man that mask was really cool, I wish I could put it one more time, sigh’

The body shook his head, no, he can't put that mask again, what if someone else find out? He would die of shame on the spot.

The brain knew that, he has the body attention now, it was now time to make his move.

[Brain]: “Hey, body I know, is not the first day of school coming up soon? It would be amazingly cool that, the masked warrior of justice, would appeared again in that day, don't you think? The first day is when bully are most active after all, no, I am sure the ally of justice would be needed in that day!”

The brain was nodding his face, making a face of ‘this is the right thing to do’, or ‘you must do, not for yourself but for the children’, 'think about the the cool stuff you could, like saving the day again'.

The body in the other hand was jumping of his spot.

[Body]: “What! Are you crazy? I couldn’t endure the shame if someone else had found out about that time in the park, and you want me to do it again? Did you want that much for me to die of shame?”

Actually the brain knew very well that, every one of his friends knew this already since the beginning his identity, the brain was not stupid like the body after all, yup, the only one that doesn’t know that his secret identity, was already known and even shared by his friends was only the body himself, or maybe he was just pretending just to not know, so he would not die of shame, Who knows.

The brain of course could only pour his honest feeling to the body, like he always did.

[Brain]: “But, nobody has found out about last time right? Then this time as well, nobody would ever find out, also, would not be cool, that after so many years, ‘the epic comeback of the masked hero ally of justice that appeared in the park and that defeated the fifth graders when he was just a fourth grader’ show himself again?”

The brain made a pause se he could breathe again, ‘man that’s a long title, sigh’

[Brain]: “How cool you were back then, fighting those fifth graders that were two, no, three times your size, and when you was just an ant to them, and you were so scared, you still defeated and made them run away”

Now we know from where all the body self opinions come from.

The body only thought was that the brain always did this to him, he always will cheat… I mean, cheer him up, and gave him the best of advices, the body could always depend on the brain for everything.

[Body]: “….do you really think I was that cool?”

[Brain]: “Of course! you were so cool, no, you are still cool, and the mask you were wearing that day, you still have it don’t you? You are even more cool than before, now that you had grown tall, nobody would ever look down on you like an ant anymore”

Actually the body of Cyan was very short at that age, but he grew tall over the years.

Seeing that this plan was coming along, the brain could not stop himself for doing all he could to make it happen.

[Brain]: “The way you entered the park, without nobody noticing it, and then left the same way after saving the day at the end. Even after so many years nobody has ever found out about it, ‘who was that masked hero’, ‘that was the ally of justice’, ‘thank you hero’, they even say that now, see, this time also, nobody will found out, what you say, don’t you wish to be that masked hero again? I know you are still saving that mask for one last time”

The body could not denied it, he wanted to wear that cool mask one more time, just one more time and he would be done with it.

[Body]: “I…. I will think about it”

For the brain this was as good as a done deal, he only needs to wait for the day to come and enjoy the show.

Back to the present.

‘Tsk….’ The brain stopped laughing all of the sudden, he was in bad mood now, he prepared so much for that day, only to be ruined at the end, he could picture it, how cool everything would had been, letting out a sigh, he stood up very fast, dusted of his metaphoric robe and walked away like if nothing had happened, putting his hand behind his back and walked with lost sight to the horizon while fading away, it was so hard to being him right now.

The body and Mana were a little confuse after watching the weird behavior that the brain has shown… they just decide to ignore it, it was for the best anyway, there were other things to do.

[Body]: “Mana… let’s keep going… h..ha!”

Even if the body was trying to not shout out, after realizing it was all just a prank of the brain, he could not stopped himself of doing it, ‘whatever I don’t care anymore sigh’

[Mana]: “HA!!”

Looking over Mana, that energetic shout was actually… quite fun to do.

[Body]: “OHH Nice shout, let me try HA!”

Mana was clapping away to that, cool and energetic shout.

[Mana]: “Very good! Let me, let me try HA!”

Soon, they just forgot about the brain and that they were shouting like crazy people, but the body didn’t forgot to... ‘Brain thank you, you always give me the best advices after all’

[Body]: “Oh very good follow up, let’s keep going, now do this, HA!”

[Mana]: “Alright, HA!”

At the beginning nothing changed even until at the end, it was a shame to admit but Mana could not move the body at all, she was Mana not the body, only the body could move the body.

But, just like the body who could only move the body, Mana could only move the mana, and the mana move with her, and that mana supported the moves of the body like a second body would.

Mana did it, by following the moves of the body, she could also move the body… together better than alone, after doing this and that, they were having a good sync between them for this being the first time they did something like this, but there were still some mistakes here and there that need it to be fixed in the future.

Mana would fall off and the body would try to catch her, or she would make a small mistake here and there and fall behind, Mana did not know any moves like the body self-taught karate education, so he took the time to explain his moves to her, actually the body has learned from a proper master before, but how can he look cool if he said that? He just omitted that part out, nevertheless, Mana was a good student.

[Body] “When you feel that you are falling you need to move like this, or like this, then you need to feel the weight of the body and balance it out and then move were you feel it is right and then if you did it right it depends from where the next rock will come, but if for example is from on top then you do like this, or like this then like this”.

[Mana]: “Ha?”

[Body]: “You will get it fast, it is very easy once you learn it, look, HA!”

Even if the beginning it was very difficult, net the end.

[Body and Mana]: “HA! HA!”

They did a good job of dodging the rocks.

Back to the present Cyan was…

‘This world is broken beyond help, a cheat, I tell you, mana is a cheat’, those where the honest thoughts of Cyan mind at that time, but back to his current problem it was a little more tricky for him to resolve.

Back to the training grounds were Cyan could not stood up.

Now, he could not feel his own weight, Cyan was wondering how everything was glued to the ground.

´did actually someone turn off the gravity? Is this some kind of spell that Master did?’

Arlom was just standing in front of him just fine, so it was not him doing something, it was affecting only to him?

It was very hard to keep his body balanced, as soon he stood up from the ground, he would fall again, but more than falling it was like floating to the ground, how can he feel there is no gravity and still land in the ground at the same time, something was making him fall so there must gravity right?.

[Cyan]: "Master, a little help please, I… can’t stand up”, Cyan knew already what Arlom would say, but what other choice did he had.

Arlom was calming looking over him, like he was watching an idiot putting a show in public, standing up just to fall again for a few times.

Arlom shook his head only to speak at the end.

[Arlom]: "Kid… Are you stupid?”

‘YOU ARE THE STUPID’ is what Cyan wanted to shout, but he could not, ‘no wait kid? If not that an improvement over being called a child already?’

[Cyan]: “Master, I… can’t balance my body, I can’t feel my own weight at all, my weight it is gone, it is like someone has turn off the gravity”

Arlom was still looking at Cyan with the same serious expression than before, there was no shock reflected in his expression, nor any other expression apart of his original expression that Arlom carry with him all the time and rarely changed at all.

He only searched over the floor and picked a rock, throwing it up to the air, the rock went up some meters only to fall to the ground again, like… it should do.

[Arlom]: “Nobody has turn off the law gravity Cyan, and nobody can turn it off, not even a god, it is just that… you’re understanding of the law is different now… did you by chance, feel it like a prisoner of this planet? And wanted to free yourself? You wanted to be free from the chains the world has put on you? There is a solution for that, just try… to remember your original weight, if that not work, then try to picture something very heavy is pulling you down”

As a matter of fact, Cyan understood... absolute nothing all about what going on or what Arlom was saying.

To Cyan the world has just become a little bit more broken for him now. ‘Sigh whatever’, closing his eyes Cyan tried remembering his own weight, ‘it was like this or that…’

This time Cyan could stand up, his legs where a little weak because of the lack of weight, some of his weight was back, but he was still feeling his balance off, soon he could rebalance his body back up again, and after a few more tries, he was back on his feet, and was walking around like normal.

The weight that Cyan was using to regain his balance was… from his shamefully past, he hated to admit it but, that memory of the masked hero was working as a big weight over his shoulders,

‘Nothing is heavier than the shame of the past, sigh’.

And from some reason he was remembering that past just before, so he may as well use that, the memory when he was the masked hero and saved… his friends.

[Cyan]: "Master, for how long I have been sleeping, did I sleep for one thousand years again? It could not that long right?"

Arlom almost left his laughter out at that stupid joke, but he still hold it back.

[Arlom]: "Why don’t ask that stomach of yours the time, I am sure he can tell you the time"

Cyan was puzzled by a second when he hear a growling sound that has come from his stomach like a reply for his question. 'I guess it should be time to eat then'

All of his questions about the law of gravity, he… gulp them down, Cyan body was no aching in pain, and all the tiredness he was feeling before falling asleep was gone now, it was like a miracle.

Being a little ashamed for that growling sound of before Cyan asked his master for of course food.

[Cyan]: "Master, did you bring something tasty to eat”

Having taste the food made by Arlom three days in a row, Cyan did have quite high expectations for the food now.

[Arlom]: “I did but… you really don’t want to ask about the laws?”

Letting out a sigh Arlom has seen clear as day, that, that Cyan was dodging to ask about it… about the laws on purpose.

[Cyan]: “Can we wait until after we eat, there is some other things… that I want to ask you first”

[Arlom]: “Well that’s alright with me let’s go”

Just as Arlom was turning around Cyan has stopped him

[Cyan]: “Master it is that… I did not slept for that long but... I am not tired anymore, no, I even feel... stronger now, and now with thing the law of gravity… Master my progress should not be this fast, it's not that right? Every time that I wake up something has change… something inside me has changed as well, will I wake up tomorrow and still be me? Will I still be able to call myself Cyan tomorrow, Master?”

Arlom shook his head, he has notice that, the Cyan he let sleeping was not the same Cyan that has woken up now, he was somewhat different but…

[Arlom]: "Don’t be s… sigh…, Listen here kid, every single day of our lives is change, we change in some ways we don’t even know, big or small, we are always moving and changing, adding things to ourselves, being outside or the inside, or it’s that you are the same Cyan that you were the day you were born?, how about 10 years ago, how about 5, 3, 2, 1 year, a month ago?”

If was true he had changed a lot already from his infant days, then, what is more changed to him now? No, Cyan was afraid of other thing, he was not afraid of change but something else.

[Arlom]: “You just need to keep moving forward, not because I tell you to Cyan, not because other people tell you to, and surly not because you are afraid in what you could become”

That was it, Cyan was afraid, after ‘evolving’ will he also become a soulless monster like the monster king?

The first day he arrived here, he had dreamed about an infinite void anything and everything, even him, he knew now, that void, were the eyes of the monster king, looking right at him.

When they first meet the monster king had do something to him.

Those eyes were so empty that could absorb you into the void, if you looked them for too long you will also start hatting everything, and become part of the void himself, can an innocent soul look at hell itself and remain the same? Would not it be tainted?, and Cyan himself has seeing it, when he was fighting the shackles of the world, hate was born from him in almost unlimited quantities, if not for Arlom angering to his limited, Cyan would had lose himself, just like… Arlom once did.

Of course those pills of Arlom for the brain, had a lot to do with Cyan recover from not getting lost, in a sea of anger and hate, after passing a certain point, they would trigger memories that would help calm the mind.

Nevertheless the damage in Cyan mind was made, he was afraid of himself now.

[Arlom]: “Cyan if you are so afraid that keep you from moving forward, you will wake up one morning and you will regret it and hate yourself, you will totally regret it, if you forcefully keep yourself the same you are only because of fear, you will never able to find what you are missing, you will not able to find yourself, the true Cyan, the one that can watch himself in the mirror and smile at his changes, the one that can accept himself for what he really is, a small stupid baby that had his mon clean after his diaper and feed breast him milk until he grew his teeth”

[Cyan]: “But Master, what if… what if I change into something I don’t like, something I hate”

[Arlom]: “If you hate it that much, then just change yourself back”

[Cyan]: “Change myself back, that’s impossible Master?

Arlom could only shook his head.

[Arlom]: “To change yourself back you need to keep moving forward, there only two thing in life that you can’t change back, one is the laws of the universe, you can use them but not change them, and the other thing is… a dead person… well maybe if you change yourself into a god of gods you can change it that too, but who knows”.

Cyan shook his head.

‘Sigh, I can beat my Master logic’

What Arlom was hinting to Cyan was something on the lines of to fix your past mistakes you need to keep going to the future, definitely after so many year years of being alone in a forest, Arlom mind was borderline crazy.

But what worse is that Cyan could understand him, so far he had not made any mistake that he would want go to the past to fix, nevertheless all of his answers lay on the future as well as his future mistakes, the biggest hint that Arlom was giving him, was that he would regret giving up his future because being too afraid of making a mistake.

And that were not just empty words, a clear example of that was in front of him.

‘That’s how you did it Master? That’s how you escaped being a monster for 5 years?’

Even if Arlom medallion never had hit 0, he had descended to the void, there is denying it, no, Arlom was not completely escaped the void either, maybe the only thing that allow him to lost himself into the void was that lonely 1, that represented his last reaming humanity, maybe it was because of that his counter was stuck at 1, Arlom soul himself was stopping him.

‘I am so stupid, getting afraid of something so ridiculous, in front of the man that has almost lost everything and lost himself, but still choose to move forward, with all his mistakes, sigh, I am such a child’

Once again, maybe Cyan was really lucky to be found by a man that could guide him inside the forest.

Having understood that there is was not point in keep worrying about this matter he just has to let it go, it was better to move on, no, if Cyan actually wants to help Arlom he needs to move forward, even if just a little bit, his wished to help Arlom only grew inside Cyan.

[Cyan]: “Gods of Gods? Master does gods truly truly exists in this world?”

[Arlom]: “Of course they do, but in this world? Cyan who else do you think that has brought you here?”

Cyan pondered for a second it was obvious if you think about but, Arlom knew an awful lot.

[Cyan]: “Master, you knew the answer as to why I was brought here to this world in the first place right?”

[Arlom]: “Why don’t you give it a guess?”

Cyan could only give up to try to understand Arlom, he would be very honest with some things but other things he would left them in the dark just because, but it was best like this, Cyan need to train his mind and if Arlom gave him all the answers his mind would not develop.

[Cyan]: “sigh, It is because… I can talk with the law of mana so freely isn’t? But to think it was a god, but nevertheless that doesn’t explain why I landed in this forest, Master did that god hate or something? Maybe I didn’t pray to him enough?”

No matter how hard he try, if a god has send him here, why he would drop him in the middle of a forest were ‘that’ thing was, was not this dropping him to his own dead?

In the other hand, Arlom actually knew that answer, and he choose… to tell Cyan the true, there is not point of hiding it anyway.

[Arlom]: “Sigh, Cyan it is best if you hear this from me, maybe it was god that has sent you into this world, but I was the reason that you ended in this forest, I had used this to bring you inside here”

With a serious face, and a somewhat regret of his face, Arlom threw half of a broken medallion into the ground, this medallion was white, not like his black medallion.

Arlom did not stop to look the stunned face of Cyan

[Arlom]: “Don’t you think that is too much of coincidence that I found you as soon are you arrived? And then I took you and protect you after a few words between us? You didn’t even knew the idiom at first and you knew nothing about me, as a matter of fact I am still should be a complete stranger to you”

Cyan was… in silent, and just looking at the eyes of the man in front of him, should he be angry? Should he be happy that Arlom has told him the true? Was actually that all the true to it? Should he reject Arlom as his Master and run away from him? Of course… he couldn’t, no, Cyan was his prisoner from the very beginning, there is no way to run away from him, he didn’t even know where the cave exit is, no, maybe everything he was told him from the beginning was big lie, what was the true and what were the lies, but, if so then why?…

Cyan was looking at Arlom with not an angry face but with a calm face.

[Cyan]: “Why… why you are telling me this now?, should not you wait for when we reach the gate and then you would laugh at my stupid face stab me in the back and exit this forest after telling all the true and throwing of some random cliff?”

Cyan could understand a little more his Master now, the regret he saw that first day, was the feeling of regret for bringing him he here, maybe this was Arlom way of apologizing?

[Arlom]: “Don’t be stupid, you are just a prisoner in here, nothing will change if I tell you the true, you have realized that too, didn’t you? You are not that stupid after all”

Lowering his view from Arlom eyes, Cyan break it his eye contact with him.

Cyan shook his head, this lying Master of his, there was not fixing him.

[Cyan]: “sigh… Master… don’t lie to me, I am not that stupid as you think, and I believed… you knew I will eventually know the true”

Arlom face grew red, this was a change in Arlom expression, he was becoming… angry.

[Arlom]: “Believe what you want stupid child, I had bring you in here just to find a way to scape this place, you don’t know anything at all about me, and the things I had done to escape this cage, I have being so many damn years inside this cage, the things I did, you don’t know the monster I have become”

It was Arlom that had become angry at the end, he was almost shouting at this point, Cyan shook his head again, and looked directly to Arlom eyes.

His face calm, eyes serious, Cyan reply back to Arlom about his own true, his own answer, to the best way he could.

[Cyan]: “You are not lying about the reason I am in this forest, I can see it in your eyes… there is hope, there is the true and there are also lies and a lot suffering, but mostly there is… regret every time you look at me, I thought it was because I was not what you were looking for, but that’s wrong, I am exactly that, that you were looking the most, but, I am also the only thing that you didn’t wanted to find in here the most too, sigh… I am not that stupid… you are the true prisoner in here, and I will help you break free...dad”