At A Bar Counter ❶
Spinning around like the cogs of a machine, clicking and clunking, is the state of my brain. Admittedly, the feeling of intrigue fills the room. I stare in disbelief at Thanatos and Azrael. "What do you mean 'a new generation'? Has this happened before?" Azrael suddenly summons a large book, using both of his hands to hold it. The book opens and begins rampantly flipping through its pages, eventually landing on the page it was scanning for. Azrael's reading glasses appear on his face, and he begins reading.
"Izuya, this book in my hand is known as The Encyclopaedia of Sainthood. It contains the history of Saints as a whole. What you are about to hear me read from this book cannot, under any circumstances, be repeated." I nod my head in agreement, and Azrael begins reading.
"Date written: September 24th, 1994. Beginning just last month, a rapid influx of Saint births occurred out of seemingly nowhere. The last time a surge like this happened, a new generation was born. Inevitably, the birth of a new generation can and will lead to the extinction of the previous generation of Saints…" Azrael continues, moving to the next excerpt.
"Date written: March 17th, 1995. The previous entry notes an influx of Saint births; this trend has continued all the way until now. It seems the predictions previously made were correct. The newest generation of Saints, Gen Vindex, has been born. However, the other prediction—that of the extinction of the previous generation—was false. This new generation is noted to have enhanced speed, strength, endurance, and most importantly, control." Suddenly, the book flips forward, ending on a new page. Azrael begins reading again.
"Date written: March 21st, 2036. A new generation has arrived. Gen Scelus has completely wiped out the previous generation. This generation has the same enhancements as Vindex; however, they have more power, more abilities, and…more ruthlessness." Azrael stops reading, looking up at me.
"Do you understand now? There have been countless generations of Saints, all evolving from the last. But your generation, I fear, will be one of the most powerful." I raise my brow, looking at Azrael in confusion.
"Why do you fear the next generation?" The giant book—The Encyclopaedia of Sainthood—disappears in an instant, and so do Azrael's glasses.
"Izuya, you alone have displayed immense power, and have abilities vastly superior to the generation before you. If you're anything to go by, I have every reason to be fearful." I look at my hands, calloused and scarred, and look up at Thanatos and Azrael.
"I think you are onto something. My Create ability may have more to it than we thought." Azrael and Thanatos look at me in confusion and say in unison, "What do you mean?"
I smile from ear to ear. "Cú, the Black Lightning, and the Rose Vines. They are all from my Create ability."
Azrael places his hand on his chin, stroking it slowly. "Izuya has a point, Thanatos. It seems that Izuya hasn't even touched your abilities; he has been relying on just his abilities." Thanatos looks around and sighs.
"What you're saying, Azrael, is that he can become even stronger?" Azrael nods his head in agreement.
"It seems so," but before I can interject, Azrael continues, "Thanatos, do you remember what abilities you possessed before you ascended?" Thanatos nods his head.
"Yeah, I know most of them." A journal appears in front of Azrael.
"List them for me." Thanatos stands there, thinking, and then blurts out, "Where do you want to start?"
Azrael looks up. "Start with your standard abilities, and gradually move to your more advanced ones." Thanatos nods his head.
"The first ability I can remember is Death Stare. All it does is inflict the feeling of dying upon the person who falls into my glare." Azrael jots this down.
"An advanced form of this ability is Death Rot, which, upon hand contact with something, rots said thing and the area around it almost instantly." I stand in wonder, thinking about Thanatos's abilities.
"This ability eventually evolved into my Death Walk, which does the same thing, but instead of having to touch it with my hands, I just walk and it kills the life under my feet." Azrael jumps in.
"Any others you can think of?" Thanatos scratches his head.
"I can't think of any more. I know I have more, but I can't put them into words." Azrael nods.
"That's fine, I'll ask you later." Azrael then looks at me.
"It's your turn now. Same rules." I think deeply and come up with all of them.
"The first ability I noticed was the ability to summon white, angel-like wings." Azrael and Thanatos blurt out in unison.
"That's a common ability. All Saints have it."
I ease my face. "Oh, I see." I scratch my chin.
"Besides being able to summon my Scythe, the other ability I can think of are my Rosevines, but I don't exactly have a name for them." Azrael jots down in his journal, and then looks back up at me.
"What does this ability do?" I stare down at my hands, trying to remember.
"I remember them pricking my skin when I would, I guess, summon their power? But I don't know where the power came from, or what it even did. All I can remember is that they enhanced my perception, my senses, and…my summoning ability." Azrael's eyes widen.
"Izuya, when did this ability go away?" I remember vividly.
"After my trip through the desert…my trip through the alternate version of Wonderland. Are they connected?" Azrael looks over at Thanatos, and they both look back at me.
"Izuya, what is this 'Wonderland' you speak of?" I try to envision this Wonderland.
"I don't know if it's my [Dreamscape], or my [Realm], or even a [Dimension]…I can't tell." Azrael summons a chair and pulls it under him.
"Izuya, there is a vast difference between those three." I raise my brow.
"What do you mean?" Azrael sighs.
"Well, a [Dreamscape] cannot be created by just a Saint, it has to be created by a God. A [Realm], however, can be created by a Saint, and is ever-expanding. A [Dimension] is not something that can be accessed by a Saint, as it is for Gods only. Most Saints have a [Realm] of their own." I stare at them both.
"I don't think Wonderland is just a [Realm], but I can't remember any memories of me ever being in Wonderland." Thanatos interrupts.
"Then how would you know that what you traveled through back in the desert was an alternate Wonderland? If you don't know what the real Wonderland is like, how can you be so sure of the alternate version?" I shoot up.
"That's it!" Azrael and Thanatos raise their brows in unison.
"What? What is it, Izuya?" Azrael blurts out.
"My Rosevines. They disappeared because they are the innate powers of Wonderland. Me traveling through the alternate Wonderland must've drained them of their powers." Thanatos snarls.
"How the fuck did you put those two things together? They aren't even similar." Azrael places his hand on his chin.
"An ability linked to a [Realm], so it seems. Izuya, we must get you back into Wonderland." Thanatos widens his eyes.
"You're just going to go along with what he said?!" Azrael turns to Thanatos.
"I see no reason not to." Thanatos slaps himself.
I jump out of the chair.
"I don't know how to get into Wonderland." Thanatos scoffs.
"You really are a clueless Saint, aren't you."
At A Bar Counter ❷
"I fortunately know how to get you to Wonderland, Izuya."
I can feel the muscles in my face twitch.
"What makes you think you can get me there if I can't even do it myself?"
Thanatos moves his arm, looking down. I see he's pointing at my hand.
"It's simple, really. I'll show you how to summon your [Realm]."
I pull my hand up, looking at it. Thanatos moves his own hand from his waist, looking as if he's about to demonstrate something.
"Watch this."
A red light begins emanating from Thanatos' hand, shortly following is the appearance of a small vertical crack in the air in front of him. The crack begins to lengthen, causing a gust. A bright red mark appears on the back of Thanatos' hand.
A large circle, engulfed in a bright red light, begins to expand in front of me. In the middle of the circle is a crest—a sigil-like emblem emblazoned there. Thanatos stares at me, noticing my intrigue.
"Are you interested in the sigil? You know…"
The sigil begins to enlarge as Thanatos tries to explain it to me. I can notice the small details that were previously hidden. The shape of the sigil is an upside down triangle, with a line extending from each corner, as well as from the direct middle. The two corner lines interlock in the middle, and form two more triangles—a shape similar to the bottom half of a star—and meet at a straight line though the center.
Thanatos snaps me out of my daze, making me realize that he was talking.
"Izuya, this sigil is known as…Izuya, are you listening?"
I widen my eyes, looking at Thanatos.
"No, not really."
He slaps himself in the face, looking upset and understandably upset. He begins to talk again, starting from the beginning.
"This is the Sigil of Thanatos."
The red hue of the sigil emblazons itself into my eyes. The effervescence of its curves and edges align to create the perfect symbol. Thanatos continues into a speech.
"I have carried this Sigil since I reached my Ascendancy. My peak, essentially. I went from being a nimble Personification to an actual God."
I raise my brow.
"What do you mean Ascendancy?"
Thanatos smirks.
"You'll know it someday."
I toss my hands in a gesture of annoyance. What the hell is up with this guy?
The portal begins to extend vertically, swirls of black and crimson lie adjacent in the center. As the portal extends out horizontally, the swirls now stretching farther, Azrael and Thanatos concurrently look my way.
"Izuya, it is almost time to visit your [Realm], are you ready?" Azrael comments.
"Yeah, kid, you got a few months worth of food?" Thanatos jabs.
To my surprise…did Thanatos just say months? Wait a minute.
"What do you mean, 'few months worth of food'? Of course I don't just have a few months of food sitting around, are you dumb in the head?" I say while peering my head through my backpack.
"We'll send you a care package when you get there, Izuya!" Azrael says with a huge grin.
I feel the sensation of being pulled in.
Azrael and Thanatos look at me and nod their heads.
I'm in for it now.
I turn towards them, tossing on my jacket and goggles that I had thrown to the side. I put my backpack on, and begin my goodbye.
"Goodbye, Thanatos, Azrael. I'll see you on the flip side!"
As I begin to walk into the portal, I begin to feel a strange sensation echo through my body.
I'm not alone.