Chapter 15: History
"Wha— where am I? What is this place?" Zayn looked around the dark space with confusion.
The place was totally devoid of light, with an endless darkness that seemed to devour everything.
Fumbling around in the dark place, Zayn found that he could no longer access his ability, nor even use an ounce of genetic energy. He felt that this was all a dream to him, like he was in this place; and yet he was not. Like some sort of...
"Astral Projection. That's what's on your mind right?" An old voice stated.
"Well, if you did think that, you would be right. You see...I have brought your consciousness into my inner world. My world of dreams." An old man, with a head full of white hair tied up in an elegant ponytail; and a face covered in wrinkles slowly appeared in front of Zayn.
He looked scrawny, and seemed to be at least in his eighties. His black robe snugly and comfortably fit his body like a glove. His eyes were hidden behind all the wrinkles, but he gave off a feeling that nothing could escape his sight. His appearance looked so frail and fragile, that one would immediately mistake him for your run-of-the-mill old man.
"How is that possible? Your power is supposed to be Lightning Control. How can you have Inner World Creation and Dreamscape abilities?" Zayn recovered from the surprise and soon passed a question to the old man.
The man's face widened slightly, but he managed to hide his surprise.
"You have good senses to be able to know my identity pretty quickly." The man complimented with a smile.
"Of course, it was pretty obvious really. Mr. Electrode." Zayn smiled in return.
"Hahaha. No need to be so formal. Call me Billy." The man let out a boisterous laugh.
"Ok. Mr. Billy." Zayn smirked.
"I like you kid!" Electrode's voice was loud.
"Why did you bring me here, Billy? Don't tell me you wanted to reveal why you would hide an ancient Egyptian relic and disguise it as part of Mayan history. Because I'm really not interested in some grand scheme." Zayn dropped a bomb on the old man.
"You knew?" The old man's face could not hide his shock this time.
"Of course. You won't be able to fool me with those statues of Mayan gods. Underneath the paper where we found the numbers leading to the hall where we found the axe, there were very faint distinct hieroglyphic markings when the light on my hands illuminated the paper. It briefly disappeared before I could get a chance to look at it more closely, but you can't hide from me the fact that there is a hieroglyphic seal on the handle of the axe that we found. And when I took a closer look at the crystal when I held it, I swear I could hear faint voices speaking in ancient Egyptian. So now tell me, are these relics Mayan or Egyptian? And why the hell you would do all this? It doesn't make that much sense to me." Zayn stated profoundly.
The old man's shock only grew denser and denser.
"Wait. Did you use it to enhance your Ability?" Zayn questioned before the man could even have a chance to speak.
The man was so impressed by Zayn's deductions that he automatically ignored the disrespect Zayn had shown him by calling his name directly, among other things.
"You guessed right. As you know, a human can also awaken more than one ability. Some are lucky enough to awaken three, four, or even five; and yet some are cursed to forever remain as Nulls." The man began.
"Life and the world have never been fair." Zayn agreed with him.
"I awakened two Abilities: Lightning Control and Dream Control, two Abilities with S class potential. When training as a kid under the Darklight Academy, I was quite the genius..."
"Are you really gonna start narrating your life experiences?" Zayn tilted his head.
"It's essential to what I'm about to tell you." The man was unperturbed by Zayn's behavior.
"Like I said, being at the Academy was pretty tough, especially when we didn't have that much people to guide us in using our ability. But war can and always be the best teacher in things like this. Fighting the Dynasty sure took a lot of the most of us, and one day I just decided to call it quits. I had grown a bit weary of fighting and went AWOL, hiding in the ruins of ancient Egyptian history." He continued.
He cleared his throat and added.
"For a time, I lived the life I wanted. Free of troubles and full of peace. But my heart was anything but peaceful. I began to long for the thrill of battle. I wanted to help the Earth. And I set out to find something that would help me increase my ability. It took me awhile, but I managed to get my hands on the Stone of Zehuti..."
"Sounds like a cheesy protagonist story. And Stone of Zehuti? Zehuti, as in the Egyptian god associated with wisdom?" Zayn interrupted.
"Yes. And stop interrupting me kid." The man demanded.
"Mm-hmm." Zayn shrugged.
"As I said, by absorbing the massive energy within the Stone, my Dream Control powers increased greatly, allowing me to reach Perfection." The man stated.
"Perfection? Is that what you call the mastery of Ability above V?" Zayn asked curiously.
"Yes. You've reached it too, haven't you? You must know how it feels." The man smiled.
"It's absolutely..." Zayn started.
"Exhilarating." The man and Zayn stated at the same time.
"Hahaha. A comrade." Old Man Billy laughed happily.
"Your ability. It's a manipulation type, isn't it? Let me guess...is it Electromagnetic Force Control?" The man smirked at Zayn.
Zayn's eyes widened.
"Ha! I knew it!" The man shouted joyously.
"How did you know?" Zayn asked.
"I didn't." The man replied.
"Shit. I gave it away." Zayn frowned.
"All that power. And yet you make so little use of it. I knew a guy with the same Ability as you. He leveled a 1,500-ton battleship of the Crimson Star Dynasty in one shot! And yet his mastery of the ability YOU BOTH share is one weaker than yours! Sure he may have possessed more genetic energy, but you get what I mean. Energy is never a problem for Electromagnetic Force Control users. At your level, you could absorb the energy from your surroundings; air, sunlight, lightning, and convert it to your own. You could have finished that fight before your friend got hurt, so why didn't you?" The man questioned sharply.
"You think I wanted him to get hurt?! I didn't! I can't use my power, not because I'm afraid I might hurt others. I've always got exceptional awareness over them ever since I knew what they were capable of. I'm afraid that when I use my powers, I'll lose my sense of self. I feel so lost. Like I'm nothing more than a killing machine." Zayn held his head.
"My mom has taken care of me since I was little! All the time I see her, she's either on one job or the other. I know she's working hard, but I can't help but feel that no one really understands me. No one knows what is going on in this head of mine! The struggles I face! What I have to do to keep myself sane! I feel like I'll go mad with rage and bloodlust whenever I use my ability! I can't control it! I just can't! Why am I even telling you this?" His voice was gloomy.
"Of course. No one ever really understands you. Because you never let them. You keep on bottling up these unstable emotions within you. And that is why your murderous impulses are going to get denser and denser. Until it finally consumes you. You whine about your mother, but have you ever stopped to ponder on all she has done for you? You say no one understands you, but what about those two boys who came with you? Do they not have lives? Remember this..." The man berated.
"The world does not revolve around you. Your life revolves around the world. And with your current level of power, you can never hope to change this. You must learn the true essence of power, and what you are." The man continued.
"You know, you remind me of Von." He pointed out abruptly.
"Von? You mean Von Strauss?" Zayn asked.
"Yes. He was a lot like you. He had a very unstable power. Sometimes he could exert control over it, and sometimes he couldn't. But he found a way to keep this power in check and become one of the most powerful individuals I ever knew. And now I will teach you this method." The man sternly proposed.
"What is this method?" Zayn asked.
"How much do you know about the soul?" The man passed a question.
"The...soul?" Zayn contemplated.