Garden Of The Abyss

"Is that what you want?"

It was a voice he knew well, a voice he had missed dearly, calling out to him as he relieved himself to the whims of this sea of black.

--...What I want?

"Are you fine with just giving up? After all of the pain and suffering you\'ve put yourself through? After the blood and sweat you\'ve cast away, the promises you\'ve made to yourself?

Again, the voice questioned him, speaking so clearly even within the endless body of liquid.

--Shut up. I want to sleep. I\'m tired.

"That\'s not the Nakamura Ren I know. That\'s the Nakamura Ren I first met, a boy who caved to any hardship, fragile both in mind and body. You shed that old you long ago, didn\'t you?"

As the voice continued to speak to him, the blackness that surrounded him became a bit more clear, noticing the many grooves within the liquid that cascaded downwards, witnessing a small glimmer of something hanging atop the sea.

--But I lost. I already died. I\'m out of mana...There\'s nothing I can do.

"That\'s not true, is it? You know that, you just haven\'t remembered it yet."

--Remembered?...

The weight of the dense liquid eased from his body, allowing him to glide his arms through the body of tranquil water.

"The essence that resides within you, the singular truth that makes up all of us. Remember it, Ren, recall those gilded clouds that swim in the sepia. You\'ve only shied away from it out of fear of losing who you are. All along, you\'ve known, haven\'t you? There was never a chance you were normal. After all, you came to this world."

As the words were spoken to him, the images of those fluffy, divine nebulas that inhabited the skies flashed in his mind. The one and the only light that seeped into the dark ocean shifted itself, revealing a sepia sky that looked down upon him.

--...I remember now. Something besides strength--what lies beyond just the desire for power. It\'s her--it\'s them. I want to protect everyone, I want to bring in a world where they can be free to walk through grass and stone alike alongside everybody else. Not just them...I want it too. I want to be free.

I need to become strong enough to overthrow that bastard king. I\'ll do it...but first; I need to kill this bull--I need to overcome this trial.

Clear as day, he could feel the warm sensation of his veins pumping blood, as his heart began to thump in conjunction with his awakening, the beat of it resonating with the sly waves that brushed past his body.

"Say it, Ren. Invoke it from the deepest depths of your soul and into your heart, manifest it into reality, my dear friend."

--I want it. I want to fight. I\'ll do it. Even if I have to discard myself--I want it! I want that power! If it means I never have to repeat that day, if it means I can protect them, protect her, I\'ll do it! Give it to me!

It all came back to him, the battle against Goldheve that occurred in his unconscious state. The clouds that carried him down that path, that conjured that power within him. As he remembered this, the words returned to him, as did a fuzzy sensation, a trillion volts surging through his once exhausted body.

"Above heaven, under heaven...I alone am worthy of honor."

The moment the words left his mouth, he rose from the uncountable hands of the black sea that held onto him so fervently, rising into the sepia skies that awaited his arrival.

It was oblivion to others, but a utopia to himself; the root of nirvana and the essence of his being--the formless skies that gave hospice to the clouds of gold. Sitting in the center of the skies of splendor was a mass of a gas-bound substance, displaying a golden sheen to it, welcoming him inside of itself.

Somehow, this was all as natural as breathing to him, this realm was his home, truer than any other he had occupied. Within the confinement of this nebulous entity, what he experienced was a true detachment of both mind and body and at the same time--the union of both.

It was here he learned of the true name of his ability, the essence born with him into this world, and it was here that he spoke it.

"Heaven-Earth Disconnect."

Time flowed forwards and backward simultaneously, while at the same time falling still under his presence within the nebulous sphere.

A continuous stream of knowledge, wisdom, mechanisms of himself he never knew were vacant from his mind--it all flowed directly into his mind, etching itself into both mind and soul. All of it fit in so naturally within himself, as if they were pieces missing from him all along.

--That\'s right...All along, I was the chosen one. I simply had to open my eyes to it, accept my throne amongst the heavens, I had forgotten all along--I am the lone honored one. After all, who but the honored one would possess such strength?

Good, Evil,--Such concepts diminished before his enlightened gaze, looking down upon all things equally with an understanding of all. There was only one, singular truth that he believed in--his will. By his judgment, he would decide who is worthy of punishment, what entails "good or bad", what deserves to exist within his ascended presence.

This was the result of something that stepped beyond the confines of magic, past a threshold few ever so much as lay their eyes upon. An outcome that steps beyond what could be called evolution, it is an ascension of one\'s own mind, body, and spirit--witnessing that which lies beyond the world they know.

If any other dared gaze into the mind of the honored one, true insanity would be bestowed upon them, unable to decipher or frankly, understand what it is they would be gazing at.

--Such is the price of true power, I alone must dictate the root of humanity, I alone am capable of giving them salvation. I stand alone as the one free man in this world, even if it\'s just for this moment.

He couldn\'t help but release a peal of heartfelt laughter from his deepest depths, feeling it through his flesh and bone, the power he now possessed, the knowledge and wisdom bestowed upon him.

The self-realization of his inner world coming to completion led to the nebulous object parting itself into the form of a lotus, exposing the young man who was hardly recognizable from the one who had entered.

The messy, full tufts of hair that covered his scalp fell to translucency, barring a subtle iridescence to match the graces of the nirvana he stood in. Blinking once more, his hazel eyes that rang with normalcy shifted into golden wheels that emitted a faint glow, producing an essence to match even the grace of the sun itself.

He escaped the flow that swept him through his life, rising above it, and now chose the path to walk for himself.

For the first time in his life, he felt in control.

--Karma isn\'t something that is decided to be good or bad on a whim. Through every action one takes in their life and how it affects the people around them--it is decided over time whether or not they have left good in their wake, or bad.

The world is overflowing with negative karma--resentment, anger, guilt, regret, despair--all of these emotions that leave people to drown in pits of darkness have led the world into the same shadow.

That is why I was born, why I was brought into this world. There must be a singular, defining entity who sets what is considered "good" or "bad", that is the role destined for the honored one.

Destined for me. I alone will carry out repentance, no hands but my own will cleanse this world of its evil.

On the thought of such evil, only one took the limelight within his mind--the crimson-eyed executioner who had taken what was dearest to him. The scenery of blood and death that stretched itself across the lavish walls of the fallen estate was still as vivid as ever in his mind, but the rage settled itself as fast as it came.

"Awaken."

Commanding himself, the orange skies he floated in faded away, instantly finding himself standing in the somber chambers of Asterius, finding that the minotaur had taken a seat in his throne of remains.

Unmoving eyes on the ceiling, his fallen body rose up without the usage of his upper body, allowing his arms to dangle as he simply brought himself up. The final impact from the Minotaur had contorted his neck, allowing it to reset itself like a cork being adjusted.