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The 13th Loop [A Progression, GameLit, Sci-Fi Adventure]

Lykanthropy

Chapter 39 Visions, Angels, and Death

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Chapter 39

Visions, Angels, and Death

Dreams are like the ultimate comfort food for the soul. Dreams have a way of making it, so everything finally makes sense. You see the past present and future all in multiple ways. You see them, all but they somehow all exist at the same time and not at all.

I saw the white light of my life. This being the thirteenth time I realized it for what it was, my mind packaging my core memories of this life into one package that would be downloaded. The white light as they call it was just the insubstantial parts of my life being burned away. Sort of a searing of the edges, so the core component stays tightly woven.

During this time, I saw a number of things that simultaneously made no sense and made perfect sense. I saw an angel coming to grab my body in space. She was so beautiful that words couldn't describe her. Not only could I see her with my dwindling vision, but I could also feel her soul. She and her soul, both, were beautiful and warm to the touch, even in space.

During this time my mind became unbound and felt like it could wander the cosmos. Suddenly in that one moment I felt very lost and alone. Not only was I far away from my home planet, but I was also in the completely wrong universe. My mind went to the new universe, where I saw many things.

I saw Astria still fighting off the scourge for charity. I saw the way Endarians were fully integrating with the humans. I saw the way my brother had been assigned as an instructor for the academy.

Wait, what?

Even in a dream about my death, my mind was jarred by the sudden appearance of my brother. Then I saw the way his eyes feasted on a female soldier. At first, I thought it was Jess, but no. I was wrong, so wrong. In the vision he only had eyes for a War Wizard in his class. While the face was blurry, I still instinctively knew that the no-face image of a War Wizard cadet that my brother was making sex-eyes for was Mel. My Mel!

Then a thought occurred to me, was she still my Mel?

Time blurred forward. I saw how my parents all went to see a blurry faced Dr. Charleston. Then saw the predatory look as my brother too went to speak with the good doctor. Then with horror I saw the look on his face as radiant Mel came forward.

There was an awkward pause by the two, as they met in the hallway.

"You here to talk about my brother too?" He asked, his voice rippling with venom filled words.

Radiant Mel just sparkled slightly, as I could tell she smiled. The whole room went slightly lighter. "Yes."

My brother's face changed. Then I saw the malicious predatory gleam in his eyes as he went in for the kill. "Do you want to have dinner and talk about it?"

As this was a dream sequence, I could see the power being used in very powerful, but subtle ways against Mel. I could almost see the moment her resolve broke. "Okay. But won't you get in trouble?" She asked, clearly referring to the fact that he was now her instructor.

"No, not for something like this."

The vision ended, or rather was over in that second. The angel that grabbed me began to flap her majestic wings.

"Stop." I cried, my voice a little raspy. I don't know how long it had been, but my throat was dry. I knew I could do something to alleviate the pain, but my mind was still mush. All I could think of was that I wasn't ready to go yet.

"I'm not ready to die." I said, as I pushed, or tried to push my way free of the angel's grip.

The angel stopped her motion, then turned her full attention on me. I felt something deep within my soul burn, as a part of me I never knew existed burned to life.

"You better not die on me!" Suddenly like that, the vision induced fog that had been coating my mind vanished within an instant. In a second, I was awake and aware of my surroundings. We were still in the heart of a great battle. Hundreds and thousands of dead scourge lay rotting near us.

Rayquel held me in her arms. After a second, I realized my mistake. As I suddenly realized she was the angel I had seen. The one I had very nearly fought with to try to get free, so I could stay alive longer. More importantly, I could feel it was her soul deep within me that was burning brightly with a fiery intensity to keep me alive and conscious.

In a second, I realized my issue, my oxygen levels were low. With a focus I created oxygen directly into my lungs.

"Hhhh." My lungs made a pained sound, as they were forced wide open. Still, that didn't matter as I could feel the oxygen slowly dissipating. I tried to look for the leak, but it was in one of the secondary or tertiary sealed containers. Ones that were connected to the reprocessing of oxygen to make it breathable again. Looking down, I saw that the third component, the cleansing fixture, was missing.

"Oh wow?" I said, as I held up the two ends.

A moment of confusion flashed between our bond. "What is…" She trailed off as she realized what was happening. "Oh no."

"Don't worry. I'm not that easy to kill." I said as I fastened the two ends together. Then with a lot of concentration, I spent the next few minutes creating more and more lungful of air.

During this time Rayquel was blessedly quiet, though I could see her accessing my suits screens every so often. I knew this, as the little light of someone accessing your suit came on. If I wanted, I could deny her access, but instead I just focused on creating more and more air to breathe.

Finally, after a long couple of moments, the crisis was over, and I was at over fifty percent capacity. That was when the strain on my mind slowly lifted. Then with each subsequent percentage increase I felt that much more alive, that much more aware. Only once I was up to ninety percent, did I stop to check on Rayquel. She still held me tight. This was good, as it meant ships would only need to rescue one of us. It also meant, if need be, we could take turns alternating sleep and search patterns.

Once I was done, I paused to look up at Rayquel.

"I'm so sorry. I should have…"

"Stop, we are both alive and that is the important part." I said.

I could feel her gratitude in our bond. She was clearly emotional. I figured I'd distract her by asking her important questions.

"Any word on the rescue efforts?" I asked.

She nodded. "They are aware of our status and our location. It appears we are now in what is being termed the clean sector. Rescue ships are on the way, but others who are in the different combat zones are deemed a higher priority."

Hearing that I nodded in agreement. It sucked, as it meant we would likely have to wait, but then I pointed out the good part. "Well that just means we are less likely to be set upon by space amoeba. Trust me this is way better than having their babies get injected into you and your last thoughts are of your body bursting as the babies you are incubating swell up and use your own biomass to fuel their rapid growth."

At that Rayquel shuddered. This caused a weird rippling sensation with her wings, one that looked oddly beautiful in the odd lighting of space.

Seeing her wings floating freely, outside the confines of her specially crafted space suit I couldn't help but look on in awe.

"They really are beautiful." I say, as I make to touch one of the wings, but then think better of it.

She looks over her shoulder, then back to me. "I could say the same about you."

"My wings are gorgeous, I do agree."

"No, smart ass. Your eyes and hair. Did you know you are becoming an Endarian treasure?" She asks.

"Wait, what?"

"It's true. Your playing of Endar Rising as we went to save seeds from the world tree. Then your subsequent blessing of the tree, and fertilization of her seeds. They were all signs that you had been chosen. Those videos of you, knowing our culture and being accepted by our people went a long way into ending the conflict between our people."

"You recorded that?" I asked. Then I realized these were the voyeuristic Endarians, of course they recorded every personal moment. Then I remembered the way I got sprayed by the world tree with its pollen, some of which I swear I still can't get out of my clothes.

"Of course, we did."

"Even the flight over to the planet?"

"Especially that. Actually, that was live streamed. Though it was cut off when you first played Endar Rising, many thought that was a vulgar act."

I smile. Remembering how it was meant to be just that. How I had originally chosen it to mock the Endarian people. Thinking about it still brings a smile to my face. Then I realize something else about her statement.

"Wait, so you are saying that it is no longer being seen as a vulgar act?" I ask, wanting clarification.

"No, they see it for what it is now. For what you and your actions represent."

"What is that?" I have a feeling that I am about to be hit with some new-wave Endarian propaganda.

"You represent the future we had once dreamed about when we first started exploring space. You represent that change that spark how our society can move forward." I am listening to her and about to vomit from everything. Then looking at her helmet, I see the glowing red crystal shining brightly by her head.

"We are being live streamed now, aren't we?" I ask.

She nods, not wanting to answer that.

"Phew." I say, as I make an exaggerated gesture.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh, for a second there I thought you had gone off the deep end there. Started drinking the Kool-Aid and all that."

She paused hearing my words, then realized our moment was over. Or rather her fake moment that she had been orchestrating. "Actually, while I have you here. What is this about drinking Kool-Aid?"

"Oh, back before the turn of the millennium a cult came up and said that a comet raging past the Earth had the secrets to the universe. They just needed to slip their mortal shells and join the comet. In order to do that, they drank poison with their Kool-Aid and voila, instant idiom."

I pause for a second, then go on. "It didn't help that many different groups took on similar practices over the centuries of using drink mixes to cover the taste of poisons. Those were also referred to as Kool-Aid, even though they were mostly different drink brands entirely."

She nodded, then asked. "Does this Kool-Aid still exist?"

"I believe so."

"I would like to try some of this Kool-Aid to see if it could really conceal this poison that you speak of."

Space Elves, I think to myself before shaking my head. Though to be fair, if there was a similar drink the Endarians had, I might be tempted to try it as well.

Silence.

After a few minutes, we fell into a state of peaceful silence as we watched the wave of black death that was the scourge slowly get wiped out as more and more fleets arrived.

There is a moment when a thought came to mind. One so odd that I had to know. I also figured this was the most appropriate time to ask, as Rayquel and I seemed to be sharing somewhat of moment here.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

She turned to look at me, her eyes hard to pinpoint in the visor of her helmet. "Sure."

"How did you know?" I ask.

"How did I know what?"

"Back there" I say pointing to the ruptured hive mind that took out thousands of the scourge all by her psychic infused death throes. "How did you know the leader of this whole thing was there?" I asked.

She chuckled. "You are the most powerful Precognitive of this universe. When you had your moment of panic, I felt it in our bond. Then when you spoke of the dangers I knew. So, I tested. That is how I got the new coordinates. At first, I thought we could go around, but once you had an even worse reaction the second time, I knew that was the area we needed to go."

"You did that all on a feeling?" I asked, still somewhat confused.

"No. I Did that based on your feelings." She said.

"Oh." Was all I managed to say. I know, deeply meaningful moment to expand upon and I nailed it. But I was literally lost for words. With that I just turned my attention to the carnage around me. My arm wrapped around Rayquel as we watched the monsters of nightmares slowly get eradicated in space. The use of our arms to hold each other tightly was unnecessary, as we were fastened by three different sets of pair-cords now. But I still felt comfort from the touch. Even if we were protected by layers of space resistant fibers, I still felt a mental warmth from our proximity.

Finally, it was her turn to ask a question. "When I first arrived. When you were fighting with me. Could I ask what you were thinking?"

I paused but figured I would likely need to explain myself. "Well, I was suffering from oxygen deprivation, so my mind was wandering. Then when you grabbed me and I saw how beautiful you were, I thought you were a being from our, human, history."

"What being is that?"

"I thought you were an angel who had come to whisk me away to my next life."

Hearing that she paused. "Well then, you did a good thing."

"What?"

"Fighting me."

I just shook my head and laughed at the statement.

Our conversations devolved from there. I got to learn a lot about Rayquel, and she in turn got to learn a lot about me. Over the next twenty hours we watched as the darkness of the space terrors slowly dwindled away. Then finally a rescue ship managed to come out and secure our safety.

During that time, I had to refill both mine and Rayquel's air and water twice. This apparently was what made our rescue take so long, as the medics went out to rescue those that were worse off first. Us being at full air and water, meant we could survive longer and were thus among the last to be picked up.

We were out for so long, that I also used my healing magic on her, helping her mind stay awake and focused with me as we waited for our inevitable rescue.

Tired and nearly delirious we got on the rescue ship, where I immediately stripped out of my suit. I took a quick shower and was about to pass out. When I did a quick check on Rayquel, only once I was certain she was safe did I manage to find an open bunk. Then before even asking permission, I dropped into the mattress, and I immediately passed out.

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The 13th Loop [A Progression, GameLit, Sci-Fi Adventure]

Lykanthropy

Chapter 40 Awkward Tensions and New Nick Names

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Chapter 40

Awkward Tensions and New Nick Names

You know when people say they want to give you a nick name, why can't it ever be Nick? It always must be something stupid like Powder or Heal Boy. Even the nearly trademarked Professor '-X' would be preferable to my new nick name. No, I am not going to tell you what it is, I will just go by hey you. Weirdo. Or any other less mildly offensive term than what I've been given.

"Grippy." Wizard me asks; his voice full of hidden mirth as he comes closer to me. I am about to avoid him entirely, but then he hits me with his request, "I have a translation question for you."

Sighing, I turn to him and wait for his question. This is my official role now that the incursion is over. Or at least the Dwenvarian home planet is nothing but scorched glass on the surface. Military Satellites have been placed around the planet, set to destroy any sign of movement on the surface of the planet. The sensors are fairly loose too as a gust of wind was enough to set off a whole orbital bombardment.

"How do you say, 'Destroyer of the great world ending bug with your mind'?"

I scowl at him but do as he asks none-the-less.

"Grippy-ionya denvar urdunsta." I state. In a way the translation is much easier, as one word can mean so many different things. In this case the first word Grippy, and what everyone has been referring to me as means great world. Not the worst that I could be called, but it does have a bad connotation when left by itself in English.

For his part he tried to sound it all out, and then nodded to himself when it was beyond him. After a try, he nods then grins to himself as he goes away. "Thanks, Grippy." He says with a sly smirk on his face.

For my part this is simply par for the course of how my last few days have been. I get rewarded and officially recognized by both the Endarians and Humans. The humans for being the savior of the entire battle. For the Endarians I get rewarded for my noted contributions for being the destroyer of the scourge's grand general, but then got noted for how I had to do something. Especially since Rayquel did all the work in the operation. At least as far as the Endarians were concerned. To their defense, most didn't know that Rayquel did next to nothing in that whole operation. Well, she did sort of rescue me after the battle. She grabbed me and managed to fly us well outside of the combat zone. Something I had not been aware of at the time. Apparently, our location and relative safety meant we were a last priority, something that I didn't even realize had happened. Then again, I guess I should have noted something was amiss when the only mind I could feel around me was Rayquel's.

I give a glance over to the side of the room to see my shadow. Well technically my leader. Upon seeing me glance her way she smiles slightly and waves. I can tell from our bond that she is still nervous about what happened. Truthfully, I don't know what to think. No, this isn't about the rescue, or how close we were during the entire twenty plus hour rescue operation.

No, our tension comes from what happened after we got on the rescue ship, and I passed out. Only to wake up to find her in my hospital bed. I was little spoon in case you were wondering. Also, before you get on me about my complex of being big-spoon dominant, I want to note that this had nothing to do with that. Rather I felt violated at the time.

Also looking back on the moment, I might have reacted poorly. There I said it, maybe only to myself, but I said it none-the-less. See second time using none-the-less, well technically third time now. GRR.

You know what, I don't know how I feel about anything anymore.

Badump.

I really liked Rayquel around me. I mean really liked it, then I felt so guilty for liking it. I know at some point I am going to have to go back to my universe. I can almost feel the time when such an act will be forced upon me. I can't help but feel a want to remain close to Rayquel as well. We are pair bonded, and have survived our first battle together, such a feat should be commended.

Also, I found out later that Rayquel had big-spooned me in order to keep me from destroying the whole rescue ship. Apparently, I was having bad dreams.

Thinking back my dreams were a bit hazy. I do remember a few things though. I remember Mel, and the scourge invading. I remember seeing Mel getting overwhelmed by the monsters. Then I remember the deep sense of panic at hearing her scream. Looking back on the dream I know it now to be a form of lucid dreaming, a way Precognitives can glimpse the future. Part of me also realizes that I must have been self-aware of that, to at least some extent, which was why the deep sense of panic.

I also might have been trying to rip a hole in space and time with my Telekinesis, as apparently, I had trashed the hospital room. At least until Rayquel got there.

I had apologized to her, almost immediately after the blow up. But the damage had been done, literally to the room, but figuratively to our bond.

Even now I could feel the tension we had on the bond causing a bit of fraying.

Looking back, she was right about taking this slowly. With just the frayed edges of our bond, I feel irrationally angry. As if somehow mentally poking the frayed edges causes intense pain that forces the primal parts of my mind to fight back.

I wave at her too.

Unfortunately, I must teach a class. A class to ungrateful humans who think that calling me Grippy for my recent exploits is hilarious. Again, mistranslations are the number one reason why most interplanetary species will have issues. We have known about this for years, but you add in the fact that humans are mostly childish, and you are asking for trouble.

"Professor Grippy, can you stop ogling the Endarian Princess there, and actually teach us?" Wizard me says from his position in my class.

Hearing him I turn, sigh, and realize I still need to teach this moron something. Worse, I know how deep of a moron he is, because I was once him. Well not just like him. He has this whole universe handed to him on a silver platter. Me on the other hand I am a visitor on a quickly expiring visa. I don't quite know how much longer I have here, but I both need and want to get back to my universe.

I can feel part of me, pulling towards that direction. It is almost as if some major force is compelling me to go home. Worse, the more it pulls, the more I feel a pang of loneliness. Even with Rayquel's bond, frayed as it is, that only serves to cover half of this growing pit. Worse, ever since the fraying starts, I have felt the call and inevitable pull towards my home.

Still, looking at me. Knowing that Wizard me was now up by two jabs, I knew I had to do something to set the scales of my own mental justice at rest. Thus, he wanted me to teach, I would teach.

"Look shit bag. If I wanted your lip, I would have peeled them off Cadet Childer's ass by now." I say. That comment got both a nervous blush out of both Wizard me, and Jess. I wasn't quite certain where they would be in this stage of their relationship. It was still early, so maybe just second base for Wizard me. But still farther than I got in this lifetime. Or does being little spoon count, even if you are passed out? No that likely didn't count for much.

Shaking my head, I begin my lesson now that I have everyone's attention.

"Good now that I have your attention. Can any of you shit for brains tell me what the seven core components of a spell are?"

My sudden change from being regular me, to being a Drill Instructor causes them all to flinch. They are instantly nervous, especially as I let a bit of my Psionic resonance bleed out among the room. Not much, I don't use my power, instead I let the energy of my reserves bleed out. This can cause anger and unnatural aggression in larger doses, but in smaller doses like this, it can cause nervous tension. Tension is good, if a cadet can learn while they are nervous then they should be able to recall this information while on the battlefield. At least that is the intent.

Everyone looks shocked or cowed, except for Cadet Childers. Looking at her I almost wonder why, then I remember she is Psychic, like Rayquel and thus immune to my psychic resonance. Or not immune, she could still feel that I was releasing it. But the tingling sensation of dread would be removed from what she felt.

"Composition, Targeting, Direction, and Amplitude?" A cadet called out.

I turn my eyes to that person and shake my head. "That is what the humans have taught you about spell craft. There are seven components, because in each spell there are seven parts that are manipulated to cast a spell. One can link the two parts of targeting, and the three parts of composition into generic categories, but that diminishes the spell. Worse it makes it so you all don't realize the basics."

I pause as I look about the classroom and see a bunch of vacant gazes staring up at me. Eyes lost in confusion. It doesn't take a mind reading expert to realize they are not understanding this lecture at all. Shaking my head, I decide to change tactic.

"You, cone head." I say pointing to wizard me.

"Cone head?" He asks.

"Yeah, you are the wizard right, the class with the pointy hats…" I state, then continue before he can say anything else. Mentally I make a note that we are now even at two quips a piece. "Anyways, create a spell for me."

"What type?"

"Any type, an attack spell. Go on, aim it right at me." I mock, as I gesture for him to send his spell right at my face.

He pauses, his body hesitant for a second. So, I give him a verbal push, again.

"Oh, come on. You are still scared? Or are you still incapable of getting it up when it counts?" I ask, and yes, I make another note that I am now up, three to two.

"Why you!" He shouts as he makes a wild gesture with his hands. Then I see the moment a flame spell manifests, and I grab hold of it almost immediately.

"Dancing for me too pretty boy? You going to do a little pixie swoosh, while you are at it?" I say.

Wizard me just shakes in anger, but this is an important lesson for all the cadets to learn. "Seriously, these hand gestures, this moving with your mana bullshit needs to stop. It's a dead giveaway. Better to learn to do your casting without any impediments now, than when it counts. Also, what happens if your hands are bound, or worse you just lost a limb. Does that mean you won't be able to cast the potentially lifesaving spell because you can't move? See it's stupid. Learn to do spell casting correctly and do it the right way."

I speak mostly to Wizard me, but I also talk to the entire classroom. I note that a few of the Endarians who are standing on the walls are taking notes, though I wonder how many can speak English.

Then once my moment of chastisement is over, I go through the spell formation. I show how there are seven unique runes on the spell. Since the spell is paused and made visible thanks to my Spell Breaking, going through each component is rather easy. Within seconds I show how the three runes that make up the composition portion of the spell are different. I have another student cast a second spell, a water spell. Once the two are frozen in time, I put them next to each other so we can do a side-by-side comparison.

It is at this point that the Endarians who had been trying to hide their fascination with my lesson all came forward to openly gape and stare. I don't care, with my citizenship still pending, I realize I will likely be breaking this down and being used to help expand universal spell theory for the Endarians as well.

"Now as a Spell breaker, I cannot alter the runes that are being used. I can force you to put more energy into the spell. This is caused by widening the Amplitude of the spell." I say as I increase the mana being poured into Wizard me's fire lance spell.

"I can also change the direction of the spell, making it fire in a harmless direction. Or back at the enemy that cast the spell." I say, as I slowly spin the targeting rune around its axis.

"Mage Breakers have the easiest and simultaneously the hardest set of skills. Ours is the easiest as we don't really create the spell, we just take ownership of the spell. The hard part comes in the fact that we need to be faster than anyone else. With practice you can start to feel the drawing in of mana, the moment spells are being called into life. Then you must snatch it out of the air. I attribute this to the act of catching flies. You need to be quick and decisive while striking. You must also anticipate where the fly will go, and what it will do once it is loose. Spell Breaking is no different. You need to see the spell when it is at rest. Then before it becomes fully formed, you must strike."

I pause, then a smile fills my face as I look directly at Wizard me.

"Your homework for this class is to have your friends cast minor spells at you. These can be anything from healing spells to minor level fire spells. Your job as a Mage Breaker is to see the spell and try to grab it before the spell can be cast. Once you have done this ten times, write down what you noticed with each successful grab. Then repeat once more. Now I shouldn't have to say this, but this is something that can't be done all at one time. But it can be done in one night if you are particularly motivated."

With that the class was dismissed. The humans all left the class, a few saying thanks. I could see the moment Wizard me opened his mouth to say something. I in turn smiled widely, knowing that I was up two to one in our contest for today. I fully admit that being in a position of authority makes these types of interactions particularly easy, but still, he keeps asking for it.

Then before he can say anything, Jess, or rather Cadet Childers looks at him then to me. Then quickly grabs his arm and pulls him away before he can do anything.

Seeing them walk away, brings a slight pang to my heart, while at the same time I can't help but wish them luck.

"You did well." Rayquel said, from beside me.

I felt her approach but didn't say anything. At this moment I thought her to be more like her moniker than was probably good for me. I imagined her to be a butterfly, one that would fly away at the slightest hint of provocation.

"Look, I need to apologize." I say, turning to her.

At my turn our eyes locked, and I could feel the nervousness in her. There was an awkward pause, before she cut in. "No, I should be the one to apologize. The doctors drugged you at first, but that only made the visions get worse. Then when you started sending out Telekinetic lances, you tore up the room and frightened the doctors and staff. I didn't know what else to do, so I…" She trailed off as she tried to think of how to say what she did. Finally shrugging as her mind came to an answer, she continued.

"I used our bond to help soothe you. Only when I lay down next to you, did you begin to calm down and stop sending out psychic discharges."

"I thought you said I was sending out Telekinetic lances?"

"That too. You were clearly using a lot of your power and it was having an immediate effect on the mage staff."

Hearing that I nodded, then asked a question I knew we both needed to know the answer to.

"So, what should we do now?"

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Interlude V Captain Chet Goldman

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Interlude V

Captain Chet Goldman

Human Captain Chet Goldman sat in his personal room aboard the Galactica class ship, Titan. It had been a long few months for him, he had lost most of the advantages that made him successful to this point. While his rise to being a Captain was fast, his rapid growth was not unheard of. There were always officers who had fared better in their careers. Though compared to his peers he was leaps and bounds ahead of them, especially as he was a Space Force captain, or the equivalent of a colonel for the ground forces. The role was assigned the pay grade of O6 for sixth rank of Officer. Still, that hadn't been enough, nothing was ever good enough for Chet, and he knew it.

Ping.

A personal message came in. When he looked at who it was two letters set his heart racing in panic.

PL.

That was all that was on his display, even that might be enough to get him severely punished. But he would only be punished if the person at the other end of the line found out about the two-letter designation.

Still Chet Goldman was thorough if nothing else. Rather than worrying about the person finding out about his designation, he was already moving to secure the room. Within moments the door was sealed, anti-magic and scrying wards were placed, and the room was as secure as could be. Finally, once he was certain all forms of resonant magical effects were erased, did he answer.

"Hello."

No names, that was a big thing. While the end points were secure, the transmission could be picked up. So, everything was done with alternate accounts. The PL in fact only used this one specific line to talk to Chet Goldman personally.

As he spoke, a three-dimensional dark hologram appeared in the room. The hologram was intentionally made this way, darkened. Only able to see Chet, while only allowing Chet to see the physical outline of the caller. Still despite this, he was able to make out the familiar outline of the PL.

"Hello. It has been some time, but I wanted to commend you on playing your role flawlessly, while also effectively neutralizing the threat you pose to the mission."

Hearing this Chet smiled. At first, he thought he had been a bit too obvious with his intentions, forcefully going after Kyle-X with all four of his banned powers. Now with his role effectively neutralized the two love birds could have their synergy that had long since been touted.

"Thank you…" As he spoke his tone was reverent, clearly, he was speaking to a leader. This was not bad, as the two of their roles were at vastly different stations. Should anyone find out about the communication and realize that honorifics were not being used then that might cause more issues than not being prim and proper. But still nothing should be done to jeopardize their roles throughout this whole process. If one of them were to be discovered, then it could have a devastating cascading effect that would mean ruin for the entire mission. With the mission in this case being the survival of the entire universe, it was easy to see why such protocols were in place. Also, it was understandable how the actors were able to use wards that were generations above even the best wards currently available for the same level of communications. Even still, the two took their roles and communications very seriously.

"Save it. I just wanted to ask how much longer we had on the lease." The PL said, her voice commanding and authoritative.

At this, Chet's face grew tight with tension. "I thought you managed that?"

Hearing this, the PL grew visibly tense as her silhouette stood completely still. The sudden stillness was unnerving to Chet, but he made no indication to get the PL to move, or at the very least breathe. Instead, he sat there and waited patiently.

Finally, after a few seconds the PL Shadow began to nod to herself. "Okay. Alternate Kyle got here what two months ago?"

Chet mentally thought back to the day he had been mentally neutered and realized it was slightly longer. "Two months and two weeks, rounded up."

Hearing that the PL nodded once more. "Okay, so assuming it is the minimum we are looking at six months total, for him to be sent back two weeks before new year."

"And if it is longer?" Chet found himself asking.

"Doesn't matter." The PL said, waving her ghost arm dismissively. "We can't predict that. We must assume the worst. As such this will mean we will have to move our schedule forward… I'd dare say your dear alternate brother deserves a reward for all his recent work."

"You are referring to the scourge attack?" Chet asked.

PL nodded, her ghostly silhouetted head moving up and down. "Yes."

There was a note of tension in her yes. As she seemed to be troubled by something. Seeing this as his moment to voice his own fears, he posed the question that had been plaguing him.

"Is it how powerful the scourge are?" Chet asked.

Hearing this, the silhouette paused for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, this is in relationship to their bonding. It is a lot stronger than it should be."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"What, no. On the contrary it is a good thing. Almost too good in fact."

"Should we take measures?"

A pause.

"No. We need to encourage this relationship, trying to get them to take the next step."

"A mind merge?"

"Yes, with that they can reach further into the Gemini Temple. They can theoretically continue to unlock the next set of doors without making the mind merge, but that is a tough proposition."

"Your goal is to get them to run the Gemini Temple before he gets sent back?"

"Yes. That is why I was calling to confirm the time frame we had to work with. This cuts our training time down to just three months, before we send them out."

"That will give you two weeks?"

The silhouette nodded. "Yes, that will have to be enough time."

There was silence as so many other things were not being said. Finally, the PL spoke again. "Still, I cannot help but feel that all our efforts will be wasted due to this unknown third actor."

"Can't you do a reveal?" Chet asked. This was a benefit of being the PL, they could do a mass reveal, but that was a last-ditch effort. It was when you knew you were outmaneuvered by the enemy and needed to find out where the holes in your leadership were. Such actions often concluded with the scourge leadership appearing in droves. This of course would mean that most protection rules that were in place would also be dissolved, allowing the scourge to grow and attack with impunity. For now, all the wounds had been self-inflicted and even then, the wounds were egregious.

"No. While this is a rogue actor, they seem to be working with us. So, for the time I will keep the reveal. Plus, even with two Kyle's we are not ready for tension a reveal would cause."

Hearing that Chet could only nod in agreement. "What do you need from me?"

With that question the PL visibly tensed, her shadow going completely still once more. Finally, after a second she spoke. "For now, continue the course. Infiltrate the ranks. Find the moles and document them for me. We know there are at least seven. So, finding one would be huge in our victory."

She of course was referring to the seven hidden scourge operatives. As a full mind reader Chet was in prime position to find these operatives. Now that his role had been compromised by an agent, and he had been effectively neutered. The would be no penalties for him to change his original purpose. At least his original purpose in this universe. With that the orders from the PL made sense and were easy to follow. Also, it filled one of Chet's core values perfectly, the need to be seen and recognized by superiors.

"I will endeavor to raise my standing within the faction and search out these hidden agents among us." Chet said.

The PL nodded.

"What will you do?" Chet finally asked before it looked like the PL was about to leave.

For a second it looked like she was debating whether to tell him what her plans were, but then decided to tell him anyways. "I intend to push Rayquel and Kyle-X closer. Then have them complete the Gemini Temple as thoroughly as possible. With that and joining at least a tier two mind meld, Kyle-X will be permanently bound to our Rayquel. Which means all the resources that were spent on Kyle-X will be ours. Even if he must go back to his home universe in some way in three and a half months' time, he will be bound to come back here."

Hearing the plan, it was solid. While Kyle-X would have to go back after the time period, he could always choose to come back. It was a gamble, but one that seemed like it could pay off.

"What if Rayquel decides to go with him?" Chet asked.

Hearing that the PL paused. Then after a moment she said, "we will just have to make sure that does not happen, now, won't we?"

With that there was a silence for a few seconds. Once it seemed that all of Chet's questions had been answered, the PL ended her connection. Her shadow first flickered, then finally dissolved completely. Only once the connection ended, did Chet lower the wards, then attempt to remove any signs of the wards ever being activated. This was as simple as turning on the vents in his room, the ones with the specialized resonance clearing trap installed. With the room being cleaned of any signs of their communication, Chet got up and left. He had a lot to do, and their window of opportunity was dwindling.

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Chapter 41 Spoils of War

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Chapter 41

Spoils of War

"My office, now. You too Rayquel." General Fellina, I mean Tigran said as she gestured for both Rayquel and I to follow her. By the sound of her voice, I knew something was serious, but I couldn't quite understand what. At least not until we got to her office, and I saw bags full of glowing cert coins. Worse, just looking at the certs made something inside my stomach sing with delight.

"Do you know what these things are?" General Tigran said, holding up a cert that glowed like a polished silver dollar. There was an odd portrait on the front of the coin, one that looked vaguely familiar. Unfortunately, I was too far away to make out the details of the coin completely.

I was about to say an off handed remark, but the general cut off all trains of humor with her next words. "Or why your name and face are plastered all over these?"

"My name and face?" I asked.

"Yep." She said, as she flipped the offending coin end over end in my direction. I quickly caught it out of the air, and then looked to see a cert much like she had described. My Face and name on the front, then the details of what the cert was for, it was a psychically imbued cert.

Seeing the coin my heart began to race. "You got these from the humans?" I had taken forty-nine of the ones that came with me, but if they got the others then. Well, I didn't know what else I could do with more. I was theoretically capped out, at least before I fully integrated in four years' time. Well three and a half years now. But who was counting.

Hearing my question Tigran nodded in understanding to herself. "Good so you are at least aware of what they are. Now can you tell me why they were all over the battlefield?"

Hearing this, my mind began to spin. "Battlefield?"

"Yes, the battlefield outside of Dwenvarian space. As part of our cleaning efforts, we grabbed all space debris into compactors, burnt everything to ash and expected nothing to remain. The only thing is these coins never disintegrated. Hundreds of thousands of these coins, all appearing after a battle you were in. None of which could be destroyed, all of which had to be burned away from the enemy bodies."

She said as if everything was a matter of fact, that my mind had to race to keep up.

"Hundreds of thousands?" I asked, not quite sure I heard her correctly.

"That is correct. Even Prolaxians that were killed at the far side of the planet, in places you never reached created these coins. We cannot exchange them; we cannot do anything other than bring them closer to you. Would you care to explain what these are?"

That was a good question. I still had only the vaguest notion of what these things were. Still, I focused my mind and tried to recall everything I knew about these coins.

"The coins as you call them are called certs where I come from. A cert is an abbreviation for Certified Experience Report Transcription. These are generated by killing scourge, or the Prolaxians in my universe. Before we are fully integrated with the system, we can use these to change the rarity of our class. We can do this up to seven times, taking it from the common version, that all classes start off with and move it to Omega rarity."

After that I explained more than I thought possible about the coins. About how a non-psychic could use forty-nine of the coins to have a complete class change where they were guaranteed to become a psychic in some way. I also explained the way people could use the coins to level once they were integrated. There was also the note about the generator of the cert being the only person able to transfer the certs. Truthfully, I was a little confused, as I thought certs would only be generated by someone who was fully integrated into the system. But it seemed that understanding was flawed as this was the second time, I had managed to generate certs by killing scourge. In both instances I was the only quasi-integrated person around, so maybe that had something to do with it. But all I knew was this was a huge windfall, but I wasn't quite certain what I could do.

"Let me get this straight, you can generate psychics by giving them forty-nine of these?" The general asked, I could see a cold form of avarice glowing in her eyes.

When she made that question, and I realized there were still hundreds of thousands of these certs lying around somewhere I realized her gleam. She was about to make an unstoppable war machine.

"Well yeah, at least that is the idea that I heard. I didn't quite understand the process as I never got to witness the process firsthand. But Mel," pain shot through me at the mention of that name. "I mean a person I know managed to do this exact process by infusing forty-nine mage generated certs. I was informed that the same process could be performed with psychic generated certs as well."

"Can you prove this? Can you say, give Rayquel forty-nine of these coins, I mean certs to see if she can evolve her class rarity?" The General asked.

Hearing that I shrugged, then looked at Rayquel. With our weird interaction, the general hefted a large bag of coins onto her desk.

Clink, tinkle.

The sound of metal disks sliding and colliding with one another could be easily heard. Looking at the overstuffed bag, and then the others that were around her office I couldn't help but think she was right about the few hundred thousand certs being generated.

Still, it was odd that so many certs were generated with my face on them, even though I ultimately had nothing to do with most of their deaths. If the reports that the General was giving me were to be believed.

From there, we did a bit of trial and error. I gave Rayquel forty-nine certs, at which time the face on the cert changed from my face with glowing eyes to a portrait of Rayqel, complete with butterfly wings. Then she proceeded to think about infusing the coin with herself. The moment she did, the cert in her hand disappeared and a faint glow overtook her body. Then from there, she infused seven coins and whoosh her class changed to Uncommon rarity. The class itself didn't change, but she did note that a few of her Affinities had improved quite a bit.

With the initial test complete she applied seven more and once again her class rarity changed. This time to Average, but her class type remained the same. It wasn't until she made her third change from Average to Epic that her class type changed from Psychic to Mentalist. A minor change in the grand scheme of things, but vastly superior to what she had. Finally, by the time she had made all seven evolutions her class type changed twice more from Mentalist to Grand Mentalist, then finally to Sage.

After that, there were a few more tests conducted. The first was we performed the same ceremony with the General, who was also somewhat of a psychic. By the time she was done, she was a Grand Psionic, that was one of the evolutionary paths I had received early on during my evolutions. To see that as her final form was somewhat shocking. I tried to keep my face neutral, but it seemed the General could read more from my thoughts than I thought possible.

"All right, now before I ask you to donate these to your people. I want to check and make sure you cannot use these yourself. Please try to add them to you now. Maybe try a different way, try adding them to your current affinities. Or even to your Psionic Prime class…" Cough. Cough. The general started coughing violently and violently struck at her chest as she seemed to begin chocking out of nowhere.

I cast a heal on her, but to no avail. She turned bright red and looked for a moment like she was about to suffocate, but then slowly she managed to take in a breath of air once more.

"You okay?" I asked.

The General nodded, then feverishly pointed at the certs and left. I assumed to get some water, as she was still coughing violently when she entered the hallway.

"Should we go with her?" I asked, looking at the general who was quickly making her way down the hallway and hopefully towards a water source.

"No, she seemed like she wanted us to take care of these coin…I mean certs while she was away."

"Okay, I don't see how this would be different. But let's see what we can do." With that I tried doing as the general suggested. First, I tried adding to the affinity, but as all my affinities were already maxed out, this made little sense and nothing seemed to change. Then on a whim, I thought about the idea the general almost had before she began choking. With a mental shrug, I took the cert and had it kind of hover over my class title Psionic Prime. Then to my surprise the cert disappeared.

Progress towards first unused Affinity Slot 1 of 1,000.

Seeing that line my eyes nearly bugged out of my head.

"What? What is it?" Rayquel asked.

"It says I have an unused Affinity slot."

"Wait, does that mean you can get more Affinities?" She asked.

With that, I shrugged, but was eager to find out. We had literally hundreds of thousands of these things. So, me using a thousand of them for this didn't seem that big of a deal. Seeing as all the certs here in the room were mine, and I had earned a few of them. I didn't think this was too much of a risk. The general did gesture towards them, as if she wanted me to try. So… with that train of thought I began gobbling down certs like a fat kid with a box of cookies.

Also, it turns out that a thousand of anything is a lot. The entire large bag that the general placed on the table, barely had over a thousand certs in it.

Once the 1,000th cert was applied I received a new message.

Unused Affinity Slot Power conditions met. Generating Random power now. Power Mind Shield applied. Due to class and user power rating Affinity set accordingly to 99+%.

That wasn't the best of powers, in my opinion, but it was still a decent power as it was a passive ability. This meant it remained on, even when I used other active psionic powers. In my opinion passive abilities were always better, as they didn't require you to think about using them. There was also a way I could actively increase the efficiency of my Mind Shield but for the most part its passive effects should protect me from most daily activities. This would hopefully make it so my mind didn't show up by scans of other psychics. Mentally I wondered if this was the same power that the hive mind queen had, and the humanoid monster we had to fight by the world tree? But my thoughts were quickly derailed as I saw Rayquel hold up the next cert to me.

Looking at it, I gave her a questioning glance.

She just shook her head and said, "well?"

Hearing that I took the cert and once again tried to apply it to my class. This time just like the last time I was greeted with a message, though the message had slightly changed.

Progress towards second unused Affinity Slot 1 of 2,000.

"This one requires two thousand certs." I stated.

Rayquel just gestured to the bags of certs that lined the General's office. Something told me that there were likely more elsewhere, she just wanted to see these being used first. "Not like there aren't more. Also, these literally all belong to you. It would be the least you could do to clean her office for her."

With that argument I was once again reminded of how absolute power should absolutely be taken when offered. Shrugging to myself I began once again cleaning out the General's cramped office. In all a total of ten thousand certs went to giving me four new Psionic affinities.

Mind Shield99+%Mind Heal99+%Total Recall99+%Revelation Sight99+%

When it came to Mind Heal, I had a pretty good idea of what I could expect. This was a power that should help me heal the minds of people that were attacked. As a preemptive test, I used the power on myself and found that there was a lot of damage. Some was explainable, like recent wounds from the scourge hive queen and her damaging attacks. But there were a few others that caused the hairs on the back of my neck to rise as they were thicker and had long since healed. This meant they weren't recent but had been left to heal so long that scar tissue formed over top of them. I began prodding, but suddenly felt jolts of pain when I tried.

Yep, always a good idea to have your first patient as a brain surgeon to be yourself. I quipped to myself, but then stopped before I could go any further and cause irreparable harm. My first thought of course went to my brother, and how he had been awakened for four years, and not for the first time I wondered what he might have done to me and our parents after his awakening.

Then I had questions about the last two powers I had acquired. "I have no clue what Total Recall or Revelation Sight might offer." I said. By this point the general had come back and was pleased to see that at least a few of the overstuffed bags in her office had been emptied.

"Revelation Sight?" The General asked excitedly. "Can you try turning it on?" She asked, her eyes still beaming.

I did as she asked, and only felt a blinding gold light flood my eyes. "Ahh!" I said, blinking wildly. "No, it appears to be a passive power that is always on." I answered.

The general stared at me for a second, then nodded. "Good I want you to tell me if you see anything odd or out of place with that. Regardless of how strange it sounds; you must tell me."

I looked at her like she was crazy, but she made me promise. Finally, it seemed there was nothing else I could spend the certs on. I still couldn't level, as I hadn't fully integrated. My affinities for my new powers were off the charts and it seemed I was stuck with only four additional Psychic powers. Fortunately, two were passive, and I after how badly my eyes still burned from the Revelation Sight, I had no intention of trying out Total Recall, at least not for the current moment. With that I proceeded to gift both Rayquel and the General ten thousand certs each so they too could unlock four new affinities.

I didn't pay attention to what the General got, but for Rayquel I could almost feel her growth. She gained Biocontrol, Commanding Voice, Psychic Scream, and Flight. The addition of Flight almost felt redundant, until it was noted that it was a passive ability, much as Biocontrol was as well. At this we realized the first and fourth seemed to be Passive abilities, while the two middle abilities were almost always active.

The general confirmed this to be the case, though she failed to confirm what her new abilities were. In fact, ever since her coughing fit, she seemed to be a bit more reserved in her interactions. Instead, she let me decide what to do with the certs. The first thing I did was offer them to the other humans, at least forty-nine to each human. Then we opened it up to the Endarian students, then the faculty and staff. Then we even tried with a professor or two. Of the professors, only Astria was willing to try. Contrary to opinion, she didn't lose her Mage class but rather gained a uniquely powerful Psionic class. The only problem was that she didn't gain any Psionic powers with the new class. Not until she spent an additional ten thousand certs herself to get the basic four affinity slots. When she tried to purchase more once again, she was denied. Still, she was very pleased with her new class, which she didn't make note of. Along with her powers, which she also didn't make note of. She did however state that the first and last ones were passive, while the middle two were active.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed by the secrecy of the professors, but then realized it was likely a safety thing as they needed to keep their true strengths hidden from most students. I was tempted to just gift the remaining certs to the general, but that was quickly shut down as I remembered the certs could only be transferred once.

Again, I had a question about why everyone was able to evolve their class. Especially when everyone had gone through the awakening process so long ago.

"I don't know. I just have a time that reads time to integration 3 years, 11 months, 30 days, 19 hours, 35 minutes, and 17, 16 seconds." Rayquel said.

I blinked in astonishment but then after quickly checking I too found what she was talking about on my own screen. time to integration 3 years, 6 months, 11 days, 15 hours, 05 minutes, and 44, 43 seconds.

I looked at the time and sighed, realizing that so much had happened to me in so short of a time. I was also sort of scared about what the future held for me. Every time I closed my eyes, I would get visions of Mel being swallowed by swarms of scourge. This was why I just continued to push myself forward in my physical training. Recently I had begun to break all my personal records, meaning that at this pace I was certain to break through my physical thresholds here shortly. At least that was the goal, something good had to come out of all the lost sleep after all.

Still, I could feel the day coming when I would be back in my home universe. There were so many things I needed to do before and when I got there that I began writing everything down. I couldn't help but feel that the Mind Heal ability was a godsend, as it will likely be exactly what I need to help Mel out. That is the other thing too, I still have visions of my brother forcing himself on her.

"You okay?" Rayquel asks.

I blink for a second, and finally realize my fists are clinched tightly and I was creating a Telekinetic vortex right in front of me. With that, I realized I was doing something entirely wrong.

"I'm fine. I just need to work off some stress." I say.

"Care to train together? We will be heading into the Gemini Temple here shortly after all." Rayquel said.

Shrugging and realizing training with someone else was a good thing, I obliged and followed her to the team practice fields.

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Chapter 42 Citizenship And Monsters

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Chapter 42

Citizenship And Monsters

"Today we would like to give a special award to our newest Endarian Citizen. Someone who has not only proven himself as a military asset, but one who came highly recommended by the world tree as well." This comment from General Tigran got everyone to laugh. Especially since Rayquel's video of me being sprayed and then nutted upon by said world tree had gone viral. In all five seeds were seen to be able to germinate, four of which are already being planted and cultivated right now. The fifth is within my violin case that is by my side. The Endarians saw fit to give me a specially made violin case, so I could easily hold the world tree seed inside while carrying my violin. It was a nice gesture and one that was really touching. The world tree violin was also a nice touch.

The stick I had procured, or rather the one that had my blood on it was so potent that it still glowed with energy. That stick of course was taken away by researchers. To make up for this, I was given a complete violin made from non-magical portions of the world tree. This seemed both sacrilegious and a very Endarian thing to do at the same time. I accepted the violin and found that it seemed to hold psychic resonance quite easily. This meant that my discharge from being so overly imbalanced with Psionic abilities was countered. At least for the time being.

"During his citizenship exam, he received nearly a perfect score. Missing only one question, who is the acting secretary of defense for the Endarian Space Command." The General said, and this generated a laugh from the audience.

In retrospect this should have been an easy answer. The news of the recent secretary of defense was well publicized, but I just didn't make that as a big deal. Apparently, this new secretary of defense was a huge deal, someone that would help streamline the entire military.

"Now a few things to point out about our newest citizen." The General continued. "You might not be aware that he had a minor part to play in the recent operation in Dwenvarian space."

This comment too elicited chuckle from the audience, by this point it was well documented that I had psionically ripped the hive queen thing apart with my mind. A few underground forums also noted how it looked like I was also the pilot, especially given the way Rayquel acted there at the end. "Her eyes seemed to flash with signs of a vision." One commenter posted, going so far as to say that she and I had visions at the same time. But mine was a warning vision, while her vision was one designed to follow up on my vision. Ultimately it is recorded that Rayquel had a vision to find the cluster of space where the hive mind queen was, and I piloted us there for that portion as she could be seen after that nearly blacking out from the strain of her own vision.

Honestly that was masterful work on the commentators of the different feeds, as they dissected that portion of the videos easily. I didn't even realize that Rayquel had passed out. That goes to show how terrible of a bonded partner I was, there I was charging into battle with my partner completely passed out from exhaustion. Still, it all turned out for the best, we both survived and even got rewards. That was what today was, not only were we getting wings of valor, or the Endarian equivalent award. Today I would become a true Endarian citizen, complete with all rights and regalia. That test she was talking about though was no joke. I asked Rayquel about a few of those questions, and she didn't know before having to look them up.

Fortunately, I had thirteen lifetimes of information to pull from, and only a few minor changes were made. Again, the only problem was I didn't have a chance to go back and do last minute pulls for the answers. All the data I had studied was related to what was available the week prior. So much can happen in a week.

"…As part of their reward for their valor in the recent conflict. Our newest pair bonded citizens will be allowed to enter the Gemini Temple up to a month early. That's right, rather than going on the first of the year as has been tradition. This exceptional pair will be the last couple to enter the temple for this calendar year." General Tigran said, her voice causing me to focus on her for a second as I tried to take in her words.

This was huge. This was so huge that for a second I was lost trying to process what she had said. Completing a temple in any calendar year was a great reward. The fact that we didn't have to wait until the end of the year to compete against other pair bonded for a spot was almost unheard of. I was about to question the why of it, but then I soon realized why. We were big news. Rayquel the Iron Butterfly, and me the newest pseudo-human with my own easily identifiable power infusions.

Through our bond I felt the surge of excitement that Rayquel was feeling. With her surge of warmth, I turned to her, and could almost see her squirming with excitement. Seeing her excited bouncing caused me to smile as well, as her warmth was truly infectious.

"This means the pair have their work cut out for them. They now only have three months to prepare for one of the toughest Temple runs in all the universe." At that comment the surge of joy coming from Rayquel slightly dropped.

I turned to look at her, as I felt the pang of loss and sadness from our bond for a moment before she squashed it and reached out to hold my hand. At her touch, I felt warmth and her joy from just being with me surge through our bond. I had investigated her past. She had been pairing bonded years before. This was not to be surprising as Rayquel was old, well old by human standards. The pair bonding, she originally had was from nearly eighty years ago. When she and her pair bonded were both in their early nineties. They were just children by Endarian standards. But they had won the chance to go on a Gemini Temple run. That was the run where on the Fortieth floor Rayquel had gotten her wings. Her partner had wanted his own set of wings, so he tried to go on further into the temple. The one thing they didn't tell anyone was that if one person wasn't fully committed to going deeper into the temple after level forty, the bond would split apart.

What had happened was, after forty floors of fighting in the temple, Rayquel was tired. She wanted to stop, or at the very least take a breather. Before they could do this, one would want to go ahead, while the other would stay. In such cases before floor forty, the one who wanted to hold back would get their way. The only problem was that apparently on the fortieth floor the rules changed. From the fortieth floor onward both had to be in open honesty with each other. There if one person didn't want to go, while the other did, they would go. The only problem was, they would then be separated. One would go onto the forty-first floor, while the other would stay on the fortieth floor. Worse, since they were no longer together, Rayquel could not open the door ahead. She waited there, until she felt the connection to her bonded die out. Then with her bonded partner deceased she was kicked out of the temple, forever barred entry. At least that was what she thought.

That was what everyone thought, as her bonded partner had died in the temple.

Once we had begun practicing for our run-in earnest, last week, Rayquel told me about her past and what had happened. She saw the look of greed in her partner's eyes, the look that said he too wished to be seen as special, to be worthy of Rayquel. He had the look of madness in his eyes before he charged ahead. He was so confident that Rayquel would be by his side that he never looked back. After all, what did he have to worry about. He would only be allowed forward if Rayquel was right there by his side.

Rayquel herself was still in physical pain from the transformation. Her wings had just sliced through her skin and caused massive amounts of pain to form. She would have joined him, but she needed a minute. A minute she never had, as the partner, who I never learned the name of charged forward and out of Rayquel's life forever.

Ultimately it is a sad story, and one that has since been made into a children's tale about greed. One that now that I fully understand the full back story, one that should be obvious to Endarians, makes so much more sense. I just remember reading it as the story of The Lonely Butterfly Queen and always scoffed at the tale about how the lonely butterfly queen now flies alone at night.

Apparently, they are now in the process of trying to come up with a sequel to the original. One where the Butterfly Queen finds a new partner. Of course, the story is meant to mimic our sudden pairing. When asked what I think of the idea for a sequel I said, "we should call it, The Butterfly Queen and the Worm."

Apparently, everyone is a critic as they didn't like the idea at all. Well, most didn't, a few Endarians who really hate humans fully agreed with the title. But apparently those are the new minority, especially after the recent push for unification between our two races.

My wishing to harp on the possibly over fifty percent Endarian genetic coding in my body to apply for citizenship, also likely played a role in why they are going for a more vanilla role with the book. I believe they also want to see just how well we do in the Gemini Temple before they put all their focus on this new children's story. No point having two children's stories about the same character that end in the same form of tragedy. I am thinking all these things, while the exceptionally long ceremony is taking place.

Ultimately this really doesn't have to be so long. But like all meetings, the block off an hour for the day, so they make sure it lasts two.

"As a special reward for our newest citizen. We have our very own Secretary of Defense on hand to present the citizenship award. Maybe now he will have an easier time remembering just who he is."

Chuckling.

There was a lot of laughter at that, I couldn't help but feel both humility and shame.

"You get one question wrong." I mutter to myself, though apparently, I have a microphone nearby as my voice seems to be amplified for the entire audience to hear.

More chuckling.

Hearing that they are laughing at that, I almost feel sorry for those who have gathered. This is terrible comedy, and it is hot outside. As such I just want this award ceremony to be over.

"So, without further ado, I present to you the newest Secretary of Defense…" General Tigran said. She continued to talk, but at that moment my mind went blank as I saw who, or rather what she was referring to. A being that was humanoid in shape, appeared on the stage.

"What?" Rayquel asked me, as she could clearly feel my fear and discomfort from our bond.

I wanted to respond, but I was too focused ahead. I saw it a monster in humanoid form. Sure, it had two arms, what appeared to be two legs, a torso, and a head, but that was it. Everything else about the creature before me was wrong. It had black pulsing skin that looked like it was half rotten, and half burnt. Mucus sacs grew and pulsed violently inside the torso. The beast had glowing eyes that looked like algae infested sacs of water. The entire thing was disgusting to look at.

I felt a gentle push at my back. I turned to find Rayquel there, gesturing for me to go forward to the thing.

To my shock, I saw that the monster was holding a framed certificate. Instantly I knew that this was the citizenship certificate I had worked so hard for over the past few weeks.

Another shove. "Go on."

Hearing that, I moved forward. My legs moving to first catch my balance from the sudden shove, then they began to move mechanically.

I was just seeing things, that is all. This can't be real. I thought to myself as I strode forward, surely this either wasn't real or was a big joke.

I looked around nervously, as I looked for a familiar set of eyes or someone. Rayquel didn't seem to be in on it, at least I couldn't feel any nervous excitement building within her, she is always bad about hiding surprises that she thinks are funny. But she doesn't think anything is odd.

Only the general seems to notice something with my eyes daring around frantically. Finally, I lock eyes with the humanoid monster, not quite knowing what to do.

I must be going mad. Years of constant combat, then how odd this life has been. One mess after another, the human mind can only take so much strain. This will be fine, just get through this, get your award. Shake a hand and then move on. This will all be behind you, and you can laugh about it later.

That is what I told myself at least.

Badump. Badump.

My heart was racing, I grabbed the framed citizenship award no problem. Then came time for our photo-op.

"Why don't you smile!" The monster said, as its words sounded like they came from grinding gears.

I forced a slight smile to my face. Really, I just pulled my jaw back in slight revulsion, but that seemed to be enough. I reached out my hand, then before I knew it, a slime coated extremity covered my hand. I was cringing inside from the feel of slime.

I was about to let out a manly squeak, but before I could out myself as a coward something happened.

WOOSH!

Multiple things happened all at once. The first was, my hand clamped down on the tentacle as if I was being electrocuted. Then my eyes began to glow, as I felt a burst of energy surge forth from me directly onto the being before me.

"AHHH!" The beast cried out in its sickening grinding voice. Then I could almost see the moment when its false skin burned away. There was a faint glow on the outside, as a shell of some kind began to burn and melt away.

"HUH?!" The audience let out, as it looked like I just attacked the Secretary of Defense right there on stage.

There was a moment of shock as everyone looked around.

The monster that I was still gripped too, turned to the audience. "GRAWWRRR!" It cried out, as it could no longer form words. Instead, it just roared in its native hissing language.

That was when all hell broke loose.

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Lykanthropy

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8/22/2022, 10:46 PM

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