Chapter 109

When You're Dying, But Still Trying

Pain. Blood and pain, those were the two things I noticed most about where I landed. The world was alight with the blur of light, as my mind tried desperately to keep up with the world.

Bleh!

I vomited blood again, right on the person before me. We were in the streets; I could tell because of the way morning dew seemed to settle on the concrete blocks that were everywhere I could see and touch. It was dark, but my heightened Perception allowed me to see in the dim lights. This was a bad part of the city. The place you went to get lost, to avoid people. These were the few things I noticed. Or rather, these were only a few things that my mind was able to process of my surroundings.

The body I had teleported in front of stirred awake. Likely at the fact that I just vomited all over their trash bag blanket. Normally, someone comes up to you randomly in the middle of the night and vomits blood all over you while you are sleeping, you would be mad. At least that was the emotion I had expected, that or for the person to wake up and start swinging wildly. In my condition, I was in no mood to fight. My body was breaking down before me. Even thinking about casting more spells caused my mind to burn with intense pain. That was why, I was confused by what happened next.

Of all the things the sleeping man before me could have done after being woken by bloody vomit, they were excited. Not just excited but elated.

“Oh, my boy, you’ve done it.” They said, clambering out of their blood and viscera covered poncho to rise and sweep me into a big hug. Well as big as the wiry frame, of the once immaculate Dr. Thurston Charleston, could manage. He was small. Well smaller than I remember. It was clear that he had lost weight.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. The fact that you did it! The fact that you are here now, means that you… Well, it means you did it. You stopped the apocalypse.” He paused, as he looked at me.

I was starting to spin, so I began to drop. Which he caught me and gently lowered me to my knees.

“You’re almost there. You are so, so close. If you want to stop now. Well, I don’t blame you. You can stop now, and everyone will remember you and Jessica’s sacrifices for the next few millennia, until the time for the next apocalypse.”

Hearing that, a spark of rage fills my mind. Jessica’s dying. Her soul was ripped to shreds, so she could die for this to be repeated.

Breathe.

I take in a deep breath, as I force myself to remain conscious. I dare not open my mouth because I am still trying to keep more blood from burbling up.

During this time, Dr. Charleston pats my chest. He feels around until he presses the necklace, I stole from Mel hard against my skin. Well maybe it wasn’t so hard, but right now everything feels like it is burning. So, the extra pressure against my skin is unbearable.

He is right, I could stop it all, right here. I am tired, so tired, and ready for this all to be over.

Then tears begin to form at my face, as I realize the sad fact. I am not a martyr. I don’t have it in me to lay down and die, not like this.

I am about to say something witty, like “fuck that.” But I am stopped by the good doctor, who continues speaking for the two of us.

“Oh good. You managed to kill the last Behemoth without use of the artifact. This is good. You are so close. Come on. I can’t tell you what to do, but the fact that you are here means that you already thought about this. That you already saw this possible future.” Dr. Charleston says, as he grabs my wobbling body and holds me still.

Our eyes meet, and I see tears in his eyes.

“Oh my boy. You have done so much, just getting here is an accomplishment. Now come on, you can’t quit when you are right at the finish line. Focus!” He says, as he pats my cheek lightly.

Though even the slight touch causes my skin to burn.

I look at him, and suddenly I realize he wants me to use my Revelation Sight on him. But why?

“You’ll die.” I manage to say, even as blood pours from my mouth to the street. Is this another trap? Is there another set of agony that awaits me?

“I accepted that outcome when I made my run from being recalled. Now, either we both die here in this alley way, or we do something truly amazing.” He pauses.

I stare at him for a moment. When it is obvious that I either missed his point or am waiting for him to continue, he does so.

“Don’t you see, we can end this once and for all. Right here, right now. Just do what you came here to do.” Dr. Charleston pleads with me, as tears are running down his face.

I nod.

Unable to speak, I focus my mind.

Pain.

Even thinking hurts, but that is okay. Just a bit more pain, and then this will be over. I will have my revenge, and I will have saved Jess.

Focusing my will, I stare at Dr. Charleston.

Revelation Sight.

I am prepared for the bright blinding light that generally accompanies such a sight. Even General Tigran and Mel had a bright glow. This was why I was surprised that only a slight tremor of light showed when I revealed Dr. Charleston as a Celestial infiltrator.

He smiled brightly, as the world and universe around us began rewinding.

“Now come on. Focus.” He said, but I looked out to the universe with all its bright lights that were rapidly swirling past me. Then I felt dizzy and felt my mind spiral into a black pit of darkness. This was a safety measure.

“Focus. You need to act. Or else all your work will have been for nothing.”

SMACK!

Fire burns my cheek, as I am brought back with a sharp burning pain to my face. He smacked me, the asshole smacked me.

“Focus. You need to focus your will through the artifact, then target the Behemoths and erase them for good. You only have until we finish the reset! Please, you must hurry!” Dr. Charleston is pleading.

Looking down for a second, I see the universe is still spinning past me. I close my eyes not wanting to get another bout of dizziness. Instead, I do as the doctor ordered. I focus my will through the Celestial artifact around my neck. Then feeling out I feel not one, but three targets.

Focusing my will, a little more. I take a calming breath, then squeeze their suddenly unprotected minds.

Mind Rend-X.

I feel their minds burst out of existence. At the same time there is a burning sensation around my neck, as the artifact feels like it is burning its way deep into my skin.

“Ahh!” I cry out, then collapse.

I collapse, but I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

Idly, in the back of my mind I am aware that I now have three new titles. But I don’t care, I dismiss them.

Instead, I lie down, and look up. Suddenly it no longer matters if the world is spinning around me. Or if I black out again, I can die, knowing that I saved the two Jesses. Not only did I save them, but I saved three universes.

Guardian Status Revoked.

I am met by random red text. That is odd, I have never seen red text from a system message before. I wonder what it means?

But before I can fully have that thought, the wings that were part of my back slowly begin to fade away.

“What?” I say, as I reach out to touch my wings that are fading away.

“That is the system acknowledging that you are done. That there is no longer a need to have a world tree. With the world trees being gone, their guardians will logically also have to go away.” Dr. Charleston states.

“What?” Is all I manage.

I feel lost, angry. I had gone through so much to get those seeds, to bring them to life. Just as I am thinking that I see the moments of my planting the seeds with Celestial controlled Rayquel in her universe. I guess I already missed the moment when I planted Prime in my universe.

“They are gone? Just like that?” I ask.

“Yes. This is a good thing though, their being gone proves that your universe will never again see another apocalypse.” Dr. Charleston said, as he sat down next to me and helped me up to a sitting position. He has a very contented look on his face.

“We did it.” He finally mutters as more and more moments of the past unravel before my eyes. “It took the selfless sacrifice of not just you, but the both of us to finally end these…”

“Selfless sacrifice?” I ask.

With that Dr. Charleston looks at me with a slightly confused expression. “Of course. Your sacrifice was a given. But all these times. All these trials and tribulations could have been avoided, if a Celestial like me worked it through to the natural conclusion.” He paused.

Then he looked at me. “You are looking oddly better? Maybe this is some type of reward for finally ending the apocalypses once and for all?”

Now that he said something, I did feel slightly better. At first, I thought it was just the fact that I no longer had to focus on my next step. No, now that it was all over. Time was being reverted. I had saved Jess’s soul.

“At least I managed to save Jess’s soul.” I said, still finding it odd how much easier it was to breathe, now that I no longer had the pressure of saving the universe on my shoulders.

“What?” Dr. Charleston asked, as he turned to me.

Seeing the look of confusion on his face, I was a bit confused. But I repeated myself anyways, “Time has been reverted. This means that Jess’ soul will be healed.”

Hearing that, a look of confusion that quickly morphed into sadness fell over his face.

“No, the soul is one of the few things that is beyond our comprehension. Once a soul is destroyed, that is it. That is why you will still die here shortly. I am just so proud to be able to spend the end of our lives together. You know, this was a fear of mine, right?”

“What?” I ask, my mind is still trying to catch up to the fact that I am still going to die.

“Dying alone. I knew it was a possibility, particularly once I left the Celestial order. But being here, with you, that is… Well, that is something I am truly grateful for.”

“I’m not dying.” I said.

Dr. Charleston just looked at me and shook his head. “Of course, you are. We all are. But now, it will be due to natural selection, versus a forced apocalypse.”

“No, I mean it. I am not dying.” I say, as I stand up. My legs are wobbling for a moment, but I quickly regain my balance. Even with the world spinning around me, I can keep my balance.

Even better, the longer I am like this, the easier it gets to stand. I have done it; I have reset time.

We are nearing the end of our reset.

I see the power and attribute points I gained from entering the temple slowly pass me by. I want to say more, but everything goes by too quickly. Finally, I am viewing myself, the second before I first entered the awakening temple.

I see myself standing in line, waiting to go next. Then finally it is my turn, I go forward and am bumped into by Dr. Charleston just before I enter.

“You son of a…” Is all I manage to say, before there is a bright flash of golden light. I am forcefully ejected from the reset time loop and thrust out onto the ground.

Slide.

I slide across the ground, as I feel like I have just been tackled by a truck. Then just as I am gaining my bearings, I see a man with disheveled hair kneeling next to me.

“Oh my, sorry about that. I guess I didn’t see you there.” Dr. Charleston begins to state as he stands up.

I also try to stand up, but am curious why, or how this Celestial is still here.

Out of curiosity, I use Revelation Sight on him again. But nothing happens, not even a golden glow.

Pausing for a second, I mentally feel around in my mind, but I feel the giant golden wedge of memories that had been thrust into my mind suddenly gone.

I had done it, I had won. I had survived, while not needing to needlessly sacrifice myself. I reach up to my face, to find that it is clean and clear of the blood that had marred it not moments ago.

I had done it, I had survived. Then looking around, I see the awakening center that had been built up around the Temple.

“Next!” The guard states.

Looking around, I realize he is angrily staring at me. Taking one last glance around I realize everyone is likely waiting on me. Given that this is alphabetical, and my last name is Goldman, means there are quite a few people still waiting. I look around for Jess, only to remember that she would have been done before me. That’s right, her last name is Childers. Okay, yes, let’s do this. I think to myself. Then I move forward and place my hand on the reader.

Angry Beep!

There is an angry beep that comes from the reader.

Confused, I pause to look at my hand then to the reader. I try again, though this time I see the red text box.

User has already completed Temple 0589.

Reading the message, I realize this might be fore the best. I can tell from my powers that I still have my classes. I can even feel my increased Attributes and Powers from my third spirit class. I want to check my classes, but there is something I need to do first.

“Sorry kid. Looks like you will be one of the classless.” The guard says in an apologetic tone.

I look at him and am about to argue that I have three classes. But then think better of it. With this, I will not be registered. I will not be tracked. This will be my perfect chance to start over, without complications.

“My friend already entered. Can I wait in the lobby for them to return?” I ask, pointing to the waiting area that is on the other side of the temple. Again, the industrial complex that has been built up around the temple is massive and its own military base. This makes sense given the strategic importance of this temple to human civilization.

The guard looks to his partner who is also guarding the entrance. By now three more potentially awakened have entered the temple. After a quick moment, the two nod.

With that, I thank the two and go to the waiting room, and I sit right in the seat that I first remember seeing Jessica in.

That’s where I wait and wait. And wait.

Finally, when the kids who were behind me in line start to emerge, I realize something is wrong. Something is incredibly wrong.

Going up to the receptionist, I ask. “Has Cadet Candidate Jessica Childers emerged from the Temple?”

The receptionist pauses for a second, but then seeing the desperate look in my face, she relents. “A friend of yours?”

I nod.

With that, she begrudgingly looks through her database, but then stops. “This is odd. I have her as having entered in close to two hours ago. But she has not returned. I fear…” She trailed off.

With that one statement, it was clear what she was implying. That Jess had died during her Temple run. It wasn’t uncommon for such an act to occur, promising candidates died all the time, after pushing themselves to the further than they originally intended. But I knew differently, I knew this was not the way things were meant to go.

Mentally bracing myself, I reached out for her consciousness, only to find nothing. I could not find a spark of Jess anywhere. To see if there was something I missed, I idly checked a few of the new cadet candidates going into the temple. I felt their minds. Then once they disappeared, I felt their existence once again reform within the temple.

But how? I thought to myself.

Then I checked my three new titles. After I read their descriptions, I felt a pit of despair form in my gut.

Title Gained: Behemoth Slayer (Lesser). Behemoth Slayer (Lesser): You have killed a legendary Behemoth of the apocalypse. You have managed to kill them in such a way that they will never respawn to begin the next stages of an apocalypse. For this you have gained a blessing. All memories of your past will be retained indefinitely. You now have Eidetic Memory. Title Gained: Behemoth Slayer (Lesser). Behemoth Slayer (Lesser): You have killed a legendary Behemoth of the apocalypse. You have managed to kill them in such a way that they will never respawn to begin the next stages of an apocalypse. For this you have gained a blessing. You will now be an unageing immortal, so you can witness the rise of the universe you fought so valiantly to save. Title Gained: Behemoth Slayer (Greater). Behemoth Slayer (Greater): You have killed a legendary Behemoth of the apocalypse. You have managed to kill them in such a way that they will never respawn to begin the next stages of an apocalypse. For this you have gained a blessing. You will now have the Spirit Power: Spiritual Regeneration added to your list of powers.

With those three titles, I quickly realized two things. The first thing I realized was why I managed to survive, despite realistically deserving to die during the restart. The second thing, well the second thing I realized was that I was now an immortal who would have to live life alone.