Two doors now stood at the entrance of the cabin.
One door swung disorderly against a stream of gray smoke, billowing in and out of the building. The other door was wedged in a semi-open position, immobile against the tide.
Ged swiftly sheathed his scimitar and gazed solemnly at the newly formed door before him.
After a brief moment, the copied door dissipated into the gray tide, vanishing into dust.
"Interesting," Ged pondered.
"This door functions very differently from the items given to me by Manduka."
"Duplicating it with the scimitar seemed to copy only a single state of the door rather than the door in its entirety."
"Or maybe my understanding of what an absolute object might be is off."
Ged shifted back and forth, and after a few moments of deliberation, he could not come to a conclusion, nor did he want to ruin whatever was left of his scimitar.
Ged looked hopelessly at the door, then turned his attention to the back room.
It was at this point that Ged gave up, allowing himself to be at the complete mercy of the current.
For many months, Ged drifted back and forth within the tide. Initially, he struggled to maintain balance, resisting the constant shifts assaulting his body. Eventually, he surrendered, allowing the tide to flow through him at its whims.
The multi-directional flux induced subtle changes in his soul. Typically, the flow from the center of the unknown universe would move from one end to the other.
However, the turbulent back-and-forth motion of the flow caused some curious changes to the structure of his soul-like body.
In the blink of an eye, another million years passed...
***
In the realm of reality, nestled in a hospital in Shark Village, lay a man whose face bore the disfigurement of numerous scars.
Clad in a hospital gown, he rested in bed, the room around him cramped with only a single window allowing a stream of sunlight through.
If missing the room's pristine white walls and smooth tiling, it could easily be mistaken for a prison cell.
The man was shriveled and weakened, a consequence of countless nights spent lying in bed. Occasionally, his tired eyes cast cursory glances toward the room's door, suggesting an anticipation for someone's arrival.
Periodically, he fell asleep in his watch, forcing himself awake each time, maintaining a resolute stare at the door, patiently waiting for this unknown visitor.
As the sun dipped behind clouds, the room darkened, and the man gave in to sleep once more. Abruptly, the edges of the door emitted a blue glow, casting a warm, blue light throughout the room. The doorknob turned noiselessly, and the door swung open, revealing an angelic woman outlined in a brilliant blue light.
With flowing blonde hair and a tight blue dress, she walked noiselessly toward the fatigued man. Extending her hand, she flexed a pose, and in response, his scars vanished, replaced by a healthy tone of skin. She stood above him, patiently waiting for him to stir.
As she waited, the sun emerged from behind the clouds, once again illuminating the room and dispelling the blue light and darkness.
The man stirred from his slumber, recoiling upon seeing the ethereal figure before him.
"Angel?" he stammered. "What are you doing here?"
"Are you here to kill me?"
"Kill you?" Angel giggled. "Don't worry. I care very little about your life or your death. I came only to seek an understanding of something." She smiled charmingly.
Ross had known very little about the local town beauty known as Angel, only interacting on occasion to pick up bread from her bakery. She was an unshakable beauty, seemingly indifferent to worldly affairs. Besides baked goods, little was known about her, even by those who worked closely with her.
But all those closely related to the Dirty Dogs knew one thing.
She was the gangster leader Geed's woman.
Her authority within the gang was unparalleled, her position above even the four regional lords who directed activity in the four corners of Shark Village.
He felt his face in disbelief. The scars he thought he would have to carry for the rest of his life were now gone, and the weakness of his body cleansed. It felt almost too good to be true.
"A 2nd cycle healing stone!" Ross spoke in shock, his face filled with confusion and suspicion over the woman's generous actions. "I have nothing of value that would be able to pay the debt for you to use such a precious item."
Angel ignored Ross' surprise and was now staring out the window at the sun, which was shining through.
"What do you think about the sun?" she asked curiously.
Reserved in his posture, Ross asked, "What about it?"
Angel frowned, ignoring his question and continuing her stare at the bright sun.
Feeling the pressure, Ross quickly conjured a response. "To me, the sun is life. The plants, the trees, nothing would exist without its warmth."
Angel smiled.
"Time is a strange thing. It flows endlessly throughout the entire universe, traveling from its center in a grand swirl. In the beginning, this flux was uninterrupted, and the universe was filled with a volatile, yet calm non-existence."
"From the perspective of 'nothing,' the idea of there being 'something' was an impossibility. Why would time ever bend to anyone's will?"
"Existence was initially but a dream."
"But this impossible dream eventually became a reality. The beginnings of swirls appeared in the waters of the ocean of time, and the 'something' that seemed impossible was now disrupting the flow of time."
"Generations passed. Matter fought viciously with the currents, trying to create swirls that lasted longer than a few seconds."
"Atoms greedily tried to take in more flow, attempting to make complete swirls, but failed every time. These atoms didn't last very long; in the turbulent waters, the atoms returned to non-existence almost as quickly as they were created."
"But matter didn't give up; they got smart and teamed up into clusters, allowing them to control more and more time. Eventually, the first one swirl was created."
Ross narrowed his eyes, trying to make sense of her words.
"Two swirls, three, ten, fifty, a hundred swirls. Existence consumed more and more of the water around it, swirling within its boundaries, and with this success, it only became more greedy."
"It wanted it all; it was jealous of the infinity of time. Larger and larger mass appeared in the universe, thus spawning the first indefinite swirling existence. For as long as it consumed, it existed."
"Larger masses swirled more flow, removing time from its usual currents around the universe. The universe became cold, and the heat congregated around these supermassive creatures who roamed around the universe looking for their next meal."
Angel finally stopped looking at the sun, shutting her eyes for the first time. She turned to Ross.
"Ninety-seven trillion swirls," she shook her head. "With such an old body and such a small mass, your sun's future is assuredly a grim one."
Ross heard the unfathomable amount of swirls and saw her strange mannerisms, and his brain spun with questions.
"An otherworlder. Y-you must be an otherworlder."
Angel shook her head. "To say that I call any planet my home wouldn't be correct. But for a single spiraled existence to understand who I am would be impossible."
"But maybe you will learn something from this small demonstration."
She pulled out light from within her chest, its blinding white light covering the room. Ross felt a searing pain as his skin burnt off, swirling towards the object which Angel was holding. Eventually, his blood and even his bones became crushed before joining in the swirl.
Angel pushed the light back into her chest, and with a flex of her arm, the swirling pieces of Ross converged back together.
Consciousness returned to Ross; he stood dumbfounded by her display of unimaginable power.
"As I said before. As long as you can help me understand something, you will not die."
Ross didn't hesitate, nodding his head in agreement.
"The peak of existence. To those that pursue it, know it as the infinity swirl," she continued.
"A timeless existence, without leaks and cracks, who need not eat nor sleep. For the past trillion years, I searched for a way to reach this state of existence."
"But while I was out fruitlessly searching for this, recently I came across a man who went down a path that I have a keen bit of interest in, and I'm sure you will be the one to help me gain some insight in this detour."
Ross cowered like an ant before a god, unable to speak or move.
Angel continued.
"Ross..."
upon hearing his name he snapped out of his reverence.
"Do you want to die?"
Ross stared blankly, a primordial scream came from his soul, "No, I don't."
"Do you want to live?"
Ross looked less sure; he paused momentarily as he mulled over the past few weeks. He slowly answered, "Yes, I do."
"Why do you want to live?"
Ross fell into a melancholic daze. "I don't know. I truly have been miserable; I feel as if my days are filled with nothing, and the prospect of my future seems impossible to find. Even still, I just know I don't want to die."
"What if there was another path? A path that is different from living and dying. Would you take it?"
Ross fell deep into thought. He thought about his life, his time at the farm, Ged and Brit, and then he thought about his death. The weight of his life and death versus a mysterious third option, but deep down within him, he knew what his answer was.
"Yes, with no regrets."
Angel smiled a brilliant smile.
"I had a feeling you would agree."
"From today forward, you will follow the path of demortality. By discarding your life and giving up your ability to die and become the second demortal!"