Chapter 15:
'Wow'
In the forest clearing stood a towering majestic rectangular mirror. Its polished silver frame glinted in the soft light of the forest, and its smooth reflective surface almost mesmerized him. Intricately designed with elaborate patterns of twisting vines and leaves, the mirror frame appeared almost alive, as if the vines and leaves could grow and change at any moment.
As they approached the mirror, the trio could see their reflection in its smooth surface, superimposed upon the vibrant hues of the neon forest. The glowing greens and blues of the trees and foliage seemed to meld with the reflection, creating a surreal and captivating view.
"This is the entrance to the Sanctums," the second daughter explained. "The others who headed in other directions will be seeing a similar structure at the end of their route. Po, you go first."
She turned to Po and beckoned him forward. Her voice was regal and authoritative, and it was very clear that she wasn't making a suggestion. Naturally, Thorne disapproved of this. Helping them out was one thing, but where did the sense of superiority come from?
To his surprise, though, Po moved forward right to the edge of the giant mirror. This proud fellow moved without hesitating or even asking a single question.
"Walk into it. We'll be joining you soon."
Po stepped into the mirror and disappeared from view, leaving the two in the forest. Thorne couldn't help but imagine what he would be seeing on the other side. At the same time, he wondered why Po had been asked to go in first. From all indications, it seemed that the second daughter had something to speak to Thorne about, but he couldn't really think of anything she would want to speak to him about. Perhaps except...
"So your cosmogem grants you infinite energy, I'm envious." Her voice no longer carried the authoritative regal tone. It was more friendly and approachable, catching Thorne by surprise.
"Po told you?" Thorne wasn't taken aback by her words. Po was a smart person, so Thorne knew that he would have long realized that Thorne never ran out of energy in combat. Plus, Thorne hadn't made any efforts to hide it either. He figured that he might have told her.
"Well, he did mention his speculations on that, and I also received your reports from Dr. Newman today."
The feminine construct moved closer to Thorne and stood right in front of him. Her gaze was on the flickering core in his chest. Similarly, Thorne's gaze was on her chest. That didn't come out right. His gaze was on her chest. That didn't sound right either. Well, he discovered that right next to her stellar core lay a static blue orb. The silver starshard revolved around the duo in a wide orbit. He knew it had to be her cosmogem.
"My cosmogem grants me an enhanced physique." She explained, noticing his gaze. "It's merely an all-around physique enhancer, nothing as amazing as yours."
"I'm guessing your cosmogem replaced your stellar core," She observed, "That would explain a lot."
"Erh miss....", Thorne didn't know what to call her. Calling her by her username didn't seem right, and Po seemed to have forgotten to tell him her real one.
"Call me Elizabeth."
"Alright Elizabeth. We're running out of time."
Thorne wasn't sure what to say. He didn't want to seem rude, but time was running out. "Can we discuss this later?" he asked.
Elizabeth glanced at the timer, which now had only a minute and a few seconds left. "The Aether Heart is an external manifestation of your in-game stellar core," she said quickly. "Aether suits are made based on the type of stellar core the intended user possesses. We created your Aether suit with references to average gold constructs with Hypergiant cores, but your Cosmogem complicates matters. I'll pick you up from the safe house after this to custom-build a new suit. I'll also quickly run you through Aether usage before the event begins."
Thorne was thoroughly confused. "What's an Aether suit? What was this event that was going to begin?"
Before he had the chance to ask, he was quickly shoved into the mirror by Elizabeth.
"We're running out of time. You can ask questions later," he heard her say right before he disappeared into the mirror.
****************************
Thorne once again found himself in a dark void. This time, there was no faint blue light source, just darkness.
"The great history of humanity began in the era of legends," a deep voice resounded throughout the void.
Whoosh!
As the voice faded, an illusory river materialized in front of Thorne. His consciousness suddenly moved, and he felt himself being pulled into the illusory river. Immediately upon entering, chaotic scenes began appearing in his head. They were random, jumbled up, and unrelated scenes that followed each other in patterns that didn't make sense.
In one scene, a little boy could be seen playing with a dog, but this scene was quickly followed by one where a dark-haired teenager jumped into a river to drown himself. Everything was so messy, unorganized, and chaotic that Thorne's consciousness began to feel severe pangs of pain.
"An era led by the three great pioneers: King Arthur, Merlin, and the Lady Cleopatra," the voice announced.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, his consciousness stabilized, and Thorne found himself in a palace, witnessing a meeting between a man in a grey hooded robe and a valiant dark-haired woman in exquisite leather armor. They stood before a throne occupied by a handsome, blond-haired man wearing a golden crown. The man held a magnificent sword with an ocean blue blade and a golden hilt.
"Who are these people supposed to be?" Thorne thought.
The voice had already said that this was the history of humanity, and although he found it strange that he was hearing this here, he figured it was all one big part of the history that tied Nexus to Earth.
"It was the dawn of the Celestial Games," the voice announced.
"The very beginning of the contest organized by the seven Anachronic Entities that brought the thousand races of the universe together to compete for the legendary Evolution Fragment. It was said that with this item, the lowly beings of the myriad races could evolve into higher beings, beings of aether and of immense power."
"And so it began, the Celestial Games. The races brought out their best warriors, and the entire universe spectated the legendary battles that took place. Everyone tried their best, but in the end, there could only be one winner."
"Bathed in blood, standing atop the bodies of his opponents, King Arthur proudly held his hand high. Earth had won. Humanity had won. Everyone knew, deep within their hearts, that a new epoch had begun, and humans were going to rule."
Thorne was awestruck by the epic story he was witnessing. He felt as though he was part of something much greater than himself, and he could feel his blood boiling from the scenes of the humans dominating their opponents.