Chapter 16: Everyone, goodbye
The flow of data stopped sending new pieces of information as Martin comprehended what he learned.
'Even Han perished…'
Martin found it difficult to accept the fact that the earliest creature to discover the use of the celestial crystal died just like that. And a more powerful being than Han also died.
'No one really can fight against the fate of the cosmos. If death it is, death it will be.'
Martin fully digested the knowledge brought to him by the data, it took him a few hours to assimilate it completely as his own, where he can browse through whenever and wherever he is.
When he was almost done assimilating the information, he heard a faint sound of a heartbeat. He had no ears nor any senses, but he knew the sound of a heartbeat when he 'hears' one.
He can't find where this heartbeat came from. At one point it was in front, then after a second it was in far left, and then another beat came from his back.
And this heartbeat grew louder with every shift of its position. The whole darkness where he is currently in was shaken by the tremors of every beat of this heart.
As it grew louder to the point of deafening, a very strong shockwave came from his very position. More correctly, his own 'heart' of his soul state produced a shocking heartbeat and he then fully assimilated all the relevant pieces of information he got.
Afraid of feeling the pain once again, Martin tried to move his body, but to his dismay, he couldn't. He forced his self to awake, but to no avail, he could not escape.
His strong will pushed his brain to guide his body to just twitch so that more movements will follow.
It was like he was swimming underneath the ocean trying to reach the surface but with his body feeling so heavy, he can't move his muscles.
He then realized that his eyelids can move so he slowly opened them, thankfully he suffered no resistance, and the darkness that enveloped him parted as a crimson red light replaced its place.
He found himself in a sticky crimson red liquid. It was so gooey he felt sick, 'Eww, what a perverted place.'
Thin strips of root-like filaments coiled him and connected his naked body to the walls [petals] of a budding crimson red lotus. He thought of getting out of that slimy compartment and the filaments really did move and liberated him.
'Why is this lotus follows my thought?' Martin puzzled himself over this flabbergasting matter.
Slowly, his upper body emerged in half, his other lower part is still submerged below. He found out that he was in a death-stinking place with no celestial bodies hanging from the sky.
'Why the heck am I always knocked unconscious and wake up in gloomy and uninhabited places?' This problem annoys him very much. Until that moment, the answer eluded him.
He looked at his surroundings. Though still blurry, he saw that there were nothing but charred deep holes around him.
This time, Martin was able to utilize his entire musculoskeletal system when the root-like filaments ejected him out completely.
"Oh! I have my body back. My voice! It returned. Well, that's kind of refreshing." He amused himself with his self-deprecation.
His new body is the same as his 17-year old body but more defined with less fat. It is like a freshly formed diamond, with no blemishes.
He was currently sitting on a huge half-bloomed crimson red lotus and this lotus was floating a couple of meters high above a crystal clear puddle of water, reaching its million roots downwards, seeping the nutrients of that water.
No big stems or complete trunk. With a couple of very wide leaves and a meter-length stem, the lotus looked as if freshly picked.
From a ten-meter-wide basin below him, probably the source of the river looking like a snake winding path before him, only this puddle of crystal clear liquid left, and now it is on the verge of drying up.
With every less drop of water, the lotus gently blossomed. And after a few more minutes, all that had lingered behind was a crystal-like drop of water with a smooth surface, and inside are interchanging colors of liquid.
The roots trembled as if they sensed something delicious. Six big primary roots are hanging down and one of these reached out and swallowed that crystal.
With no more crystal clear water to nourish it, the blossoming petals stopped growing.
Unknown to all of what happened, Martin continued his gazing.
"This might have been a wonderful place filled with magical scenery, but now, all I can see is nothing but destruction and the smell of death and decay. Not that I know their smells anyway." But magically, he seems to not be annoyed by the smell.
You know, when you fart, it smells bad but you get used to it. That's how he feels. Clumsily, he stood up.
He felt a soft sensation below him. It was the yellow-red stigma portion of the lotus, it is the part of the pistil that receives the pollen during pollination.
This soft sensation is like a cushion for him. He felt comfortable being near this stigma. It has a total span of five meters plus with the gradual budding of the petals, the total size of the lotus is really quite big.
He stepped towards the edge of the stigma, holding onto the petals as barricades, he got a clearer view of his surroundings.
Martin wanted to know where he is currently at. If he is still on Earth or somewhere else. He wanted to ask someone or even just a tiny clue. But apparently, no one can answer his questions.
No living creature can be found in the vicinity nor any life. Not even a blade of grass or the pollens of dandelions.
All that he can see is an enormously vast land birthing nothing but desolateness.
Sadness visited him again just like an old friend. He did not expect a lively place nor his family is back again. Even the thought of reverting time did not pass his mind.
But this?
After all that had happened, he thought that with his new body he could have a fresh new start, a new beginning.
But then again, when all hope points to something good, the opposite happens.
Suddenly he missed his family. Moist, then, precipitated in his eyes.
Luke and his fatherly virtues; her mother's cooking skills and love; both Luther and Annie's sweet memories and innocence.
'How I wish to see them once again,' tears flowed down without resistance, watering the budding lotus.
"Mom… sob… sob…"
"Dad…"
"Luther… sob… sob…"
"Annie…"
"I miss all of you…"
He bawled so hard he could've expelled his lungs. A splendid crimson red glow then was emitted by the lotus.
It was like the lotus is really moving if he willed it to be. Then he tried talking to the lotus, but there was no response at all.
Its stocked pollen grains were swept by an invisible air and flew to the midair, circulated for a few turns then descended as it casts whole-body images of his deceased family member.
Parts of pollen grains moved in many directions. Exchanging places with other pollens. Together, they formed distorted images.
His father, mother, and two siblings, just right in front of him smiling at him, as if they can see right through him. They looked just like what he remembered of them.
The sweet oh sweet smile of Annie. She helped him a lot when he was down and tired. She will massage him and tell him the jokes she learned from her classmates and all his sadness washes away.
The lazy but thoughtful Luther. He likes to eat a lot but whenever he treats himself, he doesn't forget to bring some food home.
His mother, who cooks their delicious meals and makes his favorite soup dish when he is breaking down.
His father, who drowned him with lectures of virtues and responsibilities. He is nothing but a great man. A sudden gust of wind was created being the distorted images as the midpoint.
Martin gazed his wet eyes onto probably the last 'living' appearance of his most cherished people.
He wanted to tell them a long speech, but in the end, he could only speak the few words he really wanted to say. With tears falling, he said.
"Everyone… goodbye…"
#FamilyOneLastTime