Adam settled into his bed and closed his eyes. He quickly shut out the various voices around him and drifted to sleep. Abruptly, his eyes snapped open after an unknown amount of time had passed.
He groaned and looked around. There was no one in the room.
"Hm," He muttered and sat up, before standing and advancing to the door. Adam opened the door and peered into the seemingly endless corridor of the living quarters.
He stepped out, feeling a sense of Deja Vu. As he walked the silent, lonely path, he remembered where he had experienced a familiar feeling. It was when he followed Lyra to EVA.
That was where it all started… He suddenly reminisced about the not-so-distant past. He thought, maybe if I hadn't left home that day, Lyra would still be alive. If he hadn't stepped out of the room and simply stayed in the office– he wouldn't have been burdened with such a fate.
After a few minutes, he stepped into the large lobby with a pillar-like machine in the centre. He didn't spare the gizmo a glance and simply proceeded forward. Looking out the glass wall, he could see a figure garbed in a pure white robe standing outside.
Adam exhaled and stepped out of the dome-like building, stopping by the familiar four-horned beast.
Both of them stood in silence for a while, merely overlooking the vast expanse of land and the distant colossal walls.
"Still mourning?" The beast asked in a provocative tone.
Adam's eyes were empty. He didn't respond and instead asked, "What is this place?"
"One of New Earth's military camps." The beast responded, intensifying the provocations.
Adam fell silent. After a minute, he turned around and said, "If you have nothing to say, I'll be leaving."
He's snapped, huh… Baal looked at the boy with a pitiful look. He said, "This is your island of subconscious, albeit merged with the power that courses through your very essence."
Adam paused in his tracks. He half turned and nodded, "I'm listening."
Baal raised one of his hands, and the colossal walls seemed to draw closer to them. Coordinates warped and they appeared in a part of the city, high up in the air, "This isle belongs to you, a projection of your mindscape. Here, you can do anything."
"Will it affect reality?" Adam asked, overlooking the city below.
Baal chuckled. "No. At least, not yet. For now, it only serves as a means to converse with me and possibly past wielders of the Trinity."
"Trinity?"
"It's the power you possess." Baal said simply. "You'll understand more later."
So there have been users of this power before me... I mean, yeah, since that old man passed it on to me. My head is a mess… Adam grumbled at his fleeting stupidity.
"Who are you?" He finally asked, his gaze steady.
Baal said simply, "Think of me as a guide. Who I am doesn't matter."
There they go again… Adam resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Then, he posed another question, "Why did the dreams stop happening?"
"Those were very vivid visions. Visions of future events. You were unstable and the power hadn't adjusted to your mental state, so it manifested in spontaneous ability malfunctions."
"So it's not a power I'm supposed to have just yet?" Adam inquired, trying to confirm his guesses.
Baal simply nodded.
Adam nodded imperceptibly and ran his fingers across his chest. He felt the tattoos and the indescribable feeling that came with them. With a slight frown, he asked further, "And what do these runes mean?"
Baal turned to look at him. The scenery suddenly turned blurry and the clouds warped to form a huge vortex that swallowed them whole. Soon, they were at a place that didn't belong to the current era.
Adam looked around briefly, staring at the vast grassy plain he stood in. This was the time in the past they had accidentally travelled to– where he had met the mysterious elder.
However, the elder wasn't present. No one was.
The boy ran his hands through the soft grass and a feeling of satisfaction washed over him. His eyes had involuntarily closed, savouring the comfortable feeling of the grass shuffling between his fingers.
He felt drawn to this place, to Old Earth.
Baal walked up to him and tapped his chest. His spandex long-sleeved shirt had disappeared at some point in time.
"Power." The four-horned beast said as he tapped the runic tattoo depicting a large hand reaching from the void.
"Awareness." He tapped at the eye tattoo that seemed to transcend dimensions and peer into one's soul.
Finally, he tapped at the tattoo resembling a door and said, "Access."
I was mostly correct… Adam nodded inwardly and patiently waited for the beast to further his explanation.
Baal explained with a steel gaze and indifferent attitude, "Each rune corresponds to the three paths of Trinity. The runes will change after each Ascension, and with each Ascension, you shall grow more powerful. The most basic, which you are right now, is the 6th Ascension."
"So, the ability to see the future is what level of Ascension?" Adam asked.
"4th." Baal responded simply. Then, he turned around and said, "It's better not to ask what abilities or what the future Ascension brings. As knowing could send you into another world of madness."
"I'm already mad." The boy said.
Baal looked at him for a few seconds. He suddenly arched his back and laughed, his guttural voice echoing throughout this vast space.
Then, he said, "Lunacy has its degrees. I pray you do not experience what it means to become a true madman."
Adam frowned, but eventually didn't pursue the matter. Instead, he inquired, "And how do i Ascend?"
"Only when you truly understand. Only then shall you become one with the Heavens and draw closer to the Lord God, Yahweh."
Then, before the boy could ask another question, the scene shattered and Adam's eyes fluttered open. He looked around slightly in a daze and saw the others. They were engaged in an arm-wrestling contest, with the exemption of Arthur Azrael.
Victor glanced his way and saw that he was awake. He said, "It's past 8. You should go for dinner. Did you even have dinner last night?"
Adam nodded. He rose from his bed and stepped out of the room.