Lacking answers but gaining new understanding with each passing moment, Lee tried a different question.
"Where?"
"All of your answers can be found through Sybelia," Arius explained. "All others will be found in due time, you do hold His Heart in your hand, after all. Time is the least of your worries now. That said, it is probably best if we send you back. Too much exposure to raw information or at one time is potentially hazardous to one's cognition and well-being. The only reason you haven't become oversaturated is because that artifact you hold is acting as a buffer, but even it has its limits in a place like this."
Lee shook his head, but the other recanted.
"If you know about... the core... you should also know about what certain types of information can do to an ill-conditioned mind. This is the Cornerstone of Creation. It's so saturated in information, past present and future; that it's virtually impossible to perceive how it actually appears. Now, try not to think of how much data in this fog you behold is able to be comprehended by mortals."
'Fair point, I guess,' He thought, dejectedly.
"They're waiting for you, and so is the rest of the world. Are you ready?"
"... As I'll ever be."
"Good, then as you were before you came here... use the raw information herein to visualize a form that can Command Time."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
(An indeterminate amount of time later)
"Brother," Anduro muttered. "He *needs* to come back soon, mortals incorporate data into their lives every single day, but exposure to that place-."
"I didn't think you'd be so worried about him..." Aitu Xiore smirked half-jokingly.
"The one time I try and be serious in several thousand years and you treat it like a joke."
"Perhaps because you are your own punchline. Need I remind you the artifact he bears?"
"Need I remind you that raw information does *not* behave linearly according to time, like Life does? CPT-Parity means next to nothing when the subject in question can achieve negative latency without going full-on Faster Than Light. You really think your Heart being skewered by a Data Storm is a fucking joke-."
"No, the notion is absolutely horrifying; it's just that the context for the circumstances you're describing go against The Rule of Three."
"How am I-... wait a minute..."
Aitu Xoire sighed.
"The Law of The Three Primes? Oh. Wait... Ohhhhh...."
"As I said, you are your own punchline. Possibility, Probability and Plausibility. Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable? Barely, but calling it likely is far too much of an overstatement. Is it plausible for me to fade without first feeling it fading? Keep in mind, we're talking about *My Heart*."
A pillar of light descended from the sky with the sound of shattering glass and the ambience of clockwork. Anduro chuckled in relief.
"I suppose I was worried for nothing."
Aitu Xiore placed his right hand on his brother's shoulder, nodding in acknowledgement.
"Nonetheless, thank you for worrying on my behalf."
As the clicking of gears ceded, the pillar dissipated and revealed Lee's self-forged form.
1.7 meters in height with skin evoking a resemblance of bronze, compiled upon a lean-yet-toned physique; boasting short-yet-flowing golden hair, silver eyes and a rugged, tempered complexion. For the first time in what felt like forever, Lee experienced the sensation of opening his eyes physically. Inhaling deeply, he felt the rush of fresh, cool air filling his lungs. A surge of invigoration and information rushed through his head, reflected in his eyes. Aitu Xiore approached steadily with a question:
"So how does it feel to have a physical body again?"
Lee stretched his limbs.
"Refreshing, as much as I appreciate the gesture of your Sister, breathing as an incorporeal semi-existence just feels too damn unnatural for me to get used to. Also, I don't mean to chide, but this could have been done a lot sooner if you guys weren't like oil, vinegar and water..."
Anduro nearly choked on his laughter.
"THE MOUTH ON THIS KID IS INCREDIBLE! STARING DEATH ITSELF IN THE FACE AND TELLING HIM OFF! THE BEST PART IS HE'S NOT EVEN WRONG!"
Lee put his thumb and forefinger to his temple, scrunching his skin into a fold as he closed his eyes in agonized disbelief. Aitu Xiore shook his head.
"First off, you just had to get him started..."
"You know, I never thought it'd be more painful to hear him agree with me... than for him to hurl his insults..."
"...Secondly, I apologize for that and taking as long as we did. I hope what comes next will make it worth the pain. Ksenxi, Anduro, it's time to fulfill our end of the deal before sending him on his way."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The four gathered back at the Altar within the barrier. The air was still, but not stagnant like it had before. Ksenxi began to speak.
"Traditionally, a Spark is bestowed by only one sponsor, but due to the way things have played out thus far, and your particular circumstances, we're going to deviate from conventional etiquette."
Anduro and Aitu Xiore nodded once, each in agreement, solemnly and somberly.
"The Initial Core of your Spark will remain untouched, as per your deal with our Elder Brother, but Anduro and myself will be augmenting its Foundation with one affinity from each of our Domains. To keep it... 'on the level,' I believe your species says, you will have the pick of which one, but you cannot substitute one Domain-bound Affinity for a second of a Domain you already tap into."
"I take it this is a manner of maintaining some semblance of balance in your actions?"
Ksenxi's eyes glistened.
"Quite astute. You may have noticed already, but this plane of existence exists in between dimensions proper; this entire realm is trapped the literal metaphorical flow of cause and effect."
Lee turned back to the barrier, then back to face Aitu Xiore.
"So karma-?"
"Is extremely temperamental in a place such as this," He finished. "You could refer to our actions as taken out of both cordiality and self-preservation."
"Sounds like you want me to make you guys out to be villains..."
Aitu Xiore lowered his head.
"That's because this isn't a gift, it's so much more than that, and the weight of it is more akin to a curse. Lee, do you understand that you, in accepting my request, have forfeited your claim to an easy death? It would only be natural to-."
"Paragon of Thresholds," Lee interjected, "Is any death really all that easy? We struck a deal. I'm annoyed, but I'm not stupid enough to bite the hand that feeds me."
"Even when that hand leads you into danger that will cause you to suffer?"
"To exist is to know suffering. To thrive is to continue in spite of it."
Aitu Xiore turned to his kin, who only replied with an impatient stare. Lowering his head, he nodded at Lee.
"Well spoken. Alright then, One aspect from Ksenxi, One from Anduro. Put Time's Keeper on the altar, and when you've decided, we'll get started."
As instructed, he placed the watch on the altar. Almost as soon as he had done so, a singular orb of silver light was drawn up from the center of the hands.
"So that's..."
"The Spark of Time."
Lee pondered it in his head. Blood, Flesh or Marrow. Life, Energy or Corporeality. Anything would be a boon, but...
"My choices are permanent, I assume? I would not be able to roll this back with your artifact?"
The Three shook their heads, and Aitu Xiore elaborated.
"That'd force you to start from scratch, here, and while you *can*, it's not advisable. This is already a breach of tradition, to re-experience it in a place permeated by Narrative Causality-."
"Would be a bad idea, got it. Alright. Anduro, I would request affinity with Marrow. Ksenxi, I have myself set on Energy."
The two addressed each nodded, holding out their right hands above the altar. Aitu Xiore handed Lee an obsidian knife.
"What is this?"
"The same way that our Progenitors called us forth with. A single drop of blood is required, trickle it upon the orb that came from the artifact."
Lee took hold of it. It felt... wrong...
"Unlike you, our Progenitors took their lives with it. That's what your feeling... the excess from the last time it was used. Don't give into it, it's a single drop of blood from your forefinger."
Fighting the compelling sensation to drive it through himself, he shakily pricked his pointer finger and immediately dropped the knife as the droplet met the silvery orb.
"Good. Anduro, Ksenxi; your turn."
The two began chanting, and the energy between the atoms in the atmosphere directly above the altar started becoming restless.
"Hark, and awaken, true essence of structure," Anduro's right hand opened up with a maw in his palm. "Reinforce the basis of my subject's template, and let him come to know the strength of Creation's Marrow, In Time and Without."
A crimson wisp in the form of a centipede crawled out of the maw, and began to shift in form, contorting from end to front into the shape of a forearm radius, wrapping around and into the silver, protecting the silver in a scarlet chrysalis.
Anduro retracted his hand as the maw within closed, and Ksenxi began.
"Come forth and imbue yourself; lifeblood of reality," As her words echoed across the inner chamber, a halo of violently crackling, black electricity descended around the altar from on high until it met the height of the silver in the scarlet; warping directly through Ksenxi's wrist to do so without disturbance to her being. "Invigorate the flow of my subject's faculties, and allow him to understand the extremities of Creation's Energy."
The electricity began to solidify into a ring, which compressed into a tangible orbit around silver in the scarlet. As it did, the chrysalis began to fall away into and about the orbit, as the silver now glowed with iridescent crimson and black. Ksenxi pulled her hand away as the whole of the construct was reabsorbed back into Time's Keeper. The erratic energy about the altar dispersed, and Aitu Xiore took a hold of it. Something about it reflected back from his eye sockets, a small light flickered within his skull.
"Lee, be careful when gripping it."
"The weight of power?"
"Bear it with your soul, not your mind, not your body, not your heart. You are going to want to grit your teeth and Not. Let. Go."
Lee began to outstretch his hand, but hesitated a moment before posing a notion:
"If I'm to take this from a... loose standpoint, on the surface, this is supposed to look like an overpowered upgrade that breaks everything. However, that is not the case... It was mentioned how we deviated from tradition... I'm going to need every last bit of this to stand a chance in the coming world and its conflicts, aren't I?"
Aitu Xiore stared with the emanations from the Seat of Consciousness within reflecting and refracting the question over and over again for a long, tense moment. Abruptly, it stopped, and he simply beckoned with Time's Keeper before answering stoically, yet affirmatively.
"If you word it like that, it would appear as though you already have your answer. All I can say is that your arrival will mark the beginning of a new age."
A familiar voice spoke directly into his head.
"I'll try to stave off as much damage as I can, but what you need to know is that this is a Baptism by Fire on an eight-ball. This is also the last thing you need to see through, before you get to see Sybelia."
Lee blinked, clenched his jaws shut in a grin, and grasped the chain with conviction. As soon as he shut his hand around it in a fist, he passed out from the shock of his marrow shattering and eating every single one of his bones from the inside out.