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Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: The Endless

In an instant, everything went black.

When everyone opened their eyes, they were no longer in the Odyssey. Instead, they found themselves standing in a vast, endless red tented void, surrounded by shimmering stars and swirling galaxies. Confusion and fear gripped them, but before they could speak, a figure materialized before them. It was a being of unfathomable presence, its form shifting and changing, sometimes appearing as a human, other times as a creature warped beyond comprehension. The being's eyes glowed with a light that seemed to pierce through their very souls.

"Welcome," the being said, its voice echoing in the void. "You have been touched by the red lightning, an event of great rarity and significance. It has brought you here, to me."

"Who are you?" Alex managed to ask, with a trembling voice.

"I'm everything and nothing, a force of all reality that you cannot comprehend. However, You may call me Seraphis," the being replied. "The red lightning has chosen you for a purpose, and I am here to bestow you chosen a gift."

Captain Frank narrowed his eyes in suspicion while Lilly drew closer to Frank balling her fists 

The friends exchanged uncertain glances. "What kind of gift?" another asked.

"The gift of immortality," Seraphis answered. "You will live forever, unbound by the constraints of time and mortality. But with this gift comes responsibility. You will witness the rise and fall of civilizations, the birth and death of stars. You will see the universe in all its glory and its horror."

Everyone was stunned into silence. Immortality? It seemed impossible, like something out of a myth or legend. But here they were, in the presence of an otherworldly being, offered a chance at eternal life.

"Why us?" one of them finally asked. "Why have we been chosen?"

"The red lightning is a rare and powerful force," Seraphis explained. "It seeks then strikes only those who possess a unique potential, a spark that can endure the test of time and the horrors of man. You have been chosen because you have the capacity to influence the universe in profound ways."

"But what if we don't want this?" Frank spoke up, uncertainty evident in their voice. "What if we want to return to our normal lives?"

Seraphis' gaze softened, and for a moment, the Seraphis appeared almost human. "I understand your hesitation," it said. "Immortality is not a burden to be taken lightly. But know that once you accept this gift, there is no turning back. Your being will be forever changed, forever different."

The friends tensed for the ump-tenth time, each lost in their thoughts. The idea of living forever, of seeing the universe in all its infinite beauty and terror, was both exhilarating and terrifying. They had always been a close-knit group, bound by their shared experiences. Could they truly face eternity together?

Finally, Frank and Lilly stepped forward. "We accept," they said, their voice steady and resolute. "If we have been chosen for a reason, then I believe we should embrace it."

One by one, the others followed suit, each finding their own resolve in the face of the unknown. Seraphis watched them with a mixture of pity and solemnity.

"Very well," the being said. "The choice has been made."

With a wave of his hand, a blinding light enveloped the friends, and they felt a surge of energy coursing through their bodies. When the light faded, the they found themselves in what seemed to be a Dead Sea bed aboard the odyssey in pristine condition, along with the familiar storm that once claimed their lives. The Odyssey was intact, as if nothing had happened.

But they knew everything had changed.

Suddenly everyone felt a surge of excruciating heat dropping to their knees they let out a gurgling scream, now embracing the deck of the Odyssey they burned straight through the Odyssey melting through the metal frame of the Odyssey like a thousand degrees ball through cotton candy. 

Now in contact with the Dead Sea bed everyone superheats into lava by the molten earth l

All together they feel the years of accumulated injuries banished from their bodies all at once. 

The heat they felt was the result of each and every atom that made them whole quite literally exploding itself in order to be reborn as something perpetual, something endless.

Baptized by a unfathomable being of all reality the group of unimpressive Individuals could now feel the power of immortality within them, a constant, subtle hum in their veins constantly reminding them of the endless vitality trapped inside themselves.

They were a family, bound not by blood but by the shared gift of immortality and the time they will inevitably spend together.

Now and till eternity, they will carry the memory of that fateful storm, the red lightning that had brought them together and changed their lives forever.