Amelia didn't know what to say, the voice of her mysterious self sounded through the darkness like a bell that transcended reality.
"You are about to finish the final evolution stage to become a Homo Chao Sapiens or how most people say Homo Chaos Sapiens and staying here is quite draining for me, so I need to keep it short."
'Homo Chaos Sapiens?' She was too confused right now.
'I don't feel any different to before...I thought I was strong but realized that my illusions can only get me this far...' Thought Amelia disappointed.
Her other self smiled at her like she knew what Amelia was thinking, "This place is the very source of our power, illusions are just the weakest form."
Amelia was stunned, "The source of our power? The weakest form? What do you mean?"
"Do I look like an illusion to you?" Asked her other self in return.
Amelia stared at her more intensive, no matter how she looked, her other self didn't look and act like a mere illusion...
A ludicrous idea flashed through her mind, 'Is that even possible?'
The smile of her other self grew wider, "There you have your answer, how nostalgic, I was once in your place and now I'm the one talking..." Continued her other-self.
Amelia detected various emotions inside the eyes of her other self, so many thoughts and questions flashed through her mind right now but her other self didn't let her ask anything as she continued...
"Keeping this image up is really difficult and I can already feel the backlash, I will keep it short. I would like to tell you more but I can't change too much she would kill me if I did...The first thing is to befriend the Ninth Pillar when she appears. It's essential that you don't get on her bad side, no matter what." Spoke her future self.
'The Ninth Pillar?'
"The second thing is about the First Pillar...Don't make them your enemy but also don't develop a deep alliance with them!"
"Them? Benji is the only one on the First Pillar, you don't make any sense! Hey wait, answer me!" Shouted Amelia angry.
The body of her other self began quickly to dissolve after she said what she wanted to say, without answering her burning questions.
Amelia was confused and panicked, "Wait, I'm confused! What do you mean by them? It's only one."
The body of her other self was already over 90% dissolved when she shook her head.
"You will know in the future..." Her transcendence like voice echoed through the darkness as she dissolved completely, leaving a confused and frustrated Amelia alone in the darkness.
She floated alone in the darkness feeling lost and confused.
Her gaze wandered through the darkness...
Amelia thought about what her other self said and her thoughts began to be fueled by the strange energy inside her body.
Her old childhood room manisfasted around her and she turned to her bed.
Her purple pupils widened and Amelia walked toward the bed, lying down.
"What story do you want to hear my little love?" Asked a soft soothing voice.
Tears ran down Amelia's cheeks as she looked at her mother, lying right beside her.
"The Shy Princess..." Answered Amelia with difficulty...
Her mother smiled as she picked up the book, she stroked Amelia's hair with love.
"Don't cry my little love, mommy is here with you."
Amelia cried, even more, the way her mother was stroking her hair...the way she smelled...the way she talked...
It was real!
"I miss you so much mum..." Said Amelia as she closed her eyes, enjoying the precious moment with her mother.
"I know my little love, I miss you too."
"You are dead..."
"I am."
"Are you real? I made you..."
"Here I am real, my little love."
Amelia stayed silent, hugging her mother in fear that she would vanish any moment.
Her mother smiled at her, opened the book...
"There was once a Shy Princess..." Began her mother to read from the book with her soft soothing voice...
Tears kept running down her cheeks as she listened to the story, with a peaceful smile on her face...
She didn't know when everything was over but she found herself back on Earth after opening her eyes.
She noticed Benji sitting near her, studying something on her tablet.
"Thank you." Said Amelia as she stood up.
Her voice sounded sad but peaceful at the same time.
Benji lifted his head, looking back at her. He noticed that Amelia seemed different to before...
"Nothing to thank, we made a deal and you owe me two favors." Spoke Benji as he handed over her tablet back to her.
"I know..."
Benji stood up, glancing at her a last time before he blasted off to the sky, quickly disappearing from her view.
Amelia stared for a long time at the direction in which he vanished, thinking about the words her other self said to her.
She shook her head at the end, 'I will do what she said, but the first thing I need to do is a radical clean-up!'
Amelia dialed a number on her tablet, "Yes it's me, you can pick me up now."
"Yes, Professor!"
Benji didn't return to Dortmund immediately, he flew to South-West Germany. There was a place he wanted to visit first.
He arrived there, entering the most gloomy forest he had ever seen.
The red fog here was many times thicker than any of the other places he had been to, it was so thick that it stayed moving just a bit over the ground...
The red fog surged towards his black horns, who began to greedily absorb it.
The two of them sensed so many different lifeforms roaming through the forest...
The other lifeforms noticed the newcomer but they ignored him entirely.
It surprised them but they moved directly to the inner parts of the forest, he met many mutated animals who were emitting very strong auras but no one of them seemed to even bother giving him a second glance.
[Schwarzwald...such a mystical place! The Mutated Animals live here in peace and they all show a high amount of intelligence...] Commented Adam in wonder.
'It's incredible...I can't help but love this place.' Admitted Benji in awe.
[Me too, thank Amelia for giving us her tablet. Who knows when we would have discovered this place...]
'Yeah, we learned a lot of things about Germany and Austria.'
[We underestimated how vast the information of the Volari Company is...]
'True, we know now where all the mutated zombies are heading to.'
[Yes, and it's worrying. They are all heading towards the North Sea, I can only think of that massive red cloud building up over the North Sea that's somehow attracting the stronger zombies...] Spoke Adam with worry.
'We need to speed up things, I don't like how that thing is developing...'
[I'm already on it!]
'Good!'
Benji looked up to the sky and saw the reason why he wanted to visit the Schwarzwald...
The thing that the Volari Company named "Word Tree"
A tree so gigantic that made the highest skyscraper massively pale in comparison to it...
The other trees in the other regions are like babies compared to that gigantic thing...
Both of them stared at it, it was a breathtaking view...
There existed only 5 of these trees on Earth, according to the Volari Company information.
The World Trees kept growing fast and the Volari Company estimated that it would reach the atmosphere of planet Earth in another year if they didn't stop growing...
Benji arrived sometime later in front of the tree...
They saw so many mutated animals resting under and on it...
It was mind-blowing, they couldn't estimate how big the tree was or how many mutated animals lived here!
The animals resting under and on the tree were strong enough to rival him, causing him to tense up.
They eyed him for a while before ignoring him.
[Sweet Jesus! We are so lucky!] Spoke Adam in joy.
'We really are!' Agreed Benji as he sat down on an empty spot under the tree, absorbing the incredible potent red fog...