Divine Apostasy Book 9 - Chapter 8 (OLD)

[Author's Note: I have significantly altered the storyline and this chapter is no longer valid. Please see more recent releases which will contain the information I plan on using. Thanks]

Chapter 8

A ripple passed through the serenity of Ruwen’s mind. The third meditation was as close to sleep as Ruwen could get, and his mind and body had welcomed the respite. The wave reminded him of the outside world, and as self-awareness returned, he pushed himself back to consciousness.

Pain greeted Ruwen. An ache that filled his entire body. Even his eyes hurt.

How do you feel? Rami asked. I told Uruziel the pain had finally receded to a manageable level.

Ruwen’s mind felt sluggish, and he tried to activate Last Breath to gain clarity and distance from the pain.

Don’t speed your mind, Rami quickly said. Everything is raw and needs more time to recover. Uruziel wanted to let you meditate longer, but I need to discuss some important things, and I’m worried we’ll run out of time.

It took a moment to form the sentence, but finally Ruwen responded. We have thirty years.

We had thirty years, Rami said. Less than a year of that remains.

The statement shocked and confused Ruwen. Instead of responding he opened his eyes. A fog of dense Spirit kept him from seeing anything.

With an effort Ruwen responded. What?

A foot of Spirit around Ruwen thinned and he found himself floating in the air, no longer sitting like he’d started. The fog continued to roll away from him and three figures materialized four feet in front of him, all three sitting cross-legged and hovering just as he did.

Rami had taken her human form and she smiled at Ruwen. Beside her Uruziel studied him with obvious concern. She wore the same type of loose pants and long shirt that she’d made for him, the only difference the grey-blue color of her garments. Next to Uruziel hovered Overlord, and he wore a serious expression. He had also changed the most, as he’d grown a beard, well-trimmed, but not the stubble he’d had before.

Overlord reached forward and the wisps of Spirit still swirling in front of Ruwen disappeared as a glass of water materialized in Overlord’s hand.

Ruwen’s eyes widened, and he tried to ask a question, but his throat felt completely blocked. Overlord smiled and raised the glass a little higher. Ruwen took the water and sipped, the liquid hard to swallow at first. He handed the glass back to Overlord, but instead of taking it, the cup turned back into Spirit.

That deepened Ruwen’s confusion as he hadn’t sensed Overlord access Ruwen’s Core.

Uruziel glanced at Overlord and shook her head slightly. “Showoff. You could at least ask how he feels first.”

Overlord grinned and waved a hand. “He’s fine.”

“Are you?” Rami asked, leaning forward.

Uruziel quickly returned her attention to Ruwen, her concern obvious.

For the first time Ruwen focused on his body, and when he looked past the aches, he felt differences.

Ruwen had barely had his Divine body, certainly not long enough to test its limits or get familiar with it. The transition from peak Diamond to Angel had crossed an immense physical gulf. Even so, it was obvious his body had evolved yet again.

Raising a hand, Ruwen studied it, slowly closing it into a fist. With a thought he summoned his wings, and they appeared behind him, fully spread.

“Now who’s showing off,” Overlord said.

Even without turning, Ruwen knew his wings had changed. They felt heavier and more solid, but the transformation hadn’t affected their almost non-existent weight. The most obvious difference was their size, as he could now see them in the edges of his vision.

Ruwen turned his wings forward as if to wrap himself, but stopped half-way so he wouldn’t strike his three friends. The thousands of strings that made up the ax-shaped wings vibrated, the crystals along the edges of the wings resonating and amplifying the strings’ pulses.

Aside from the larger size of Ruwen’s wings, the most obvious change centered on the crystals surrounding his wings. Before, their jagged appearance had reminded him of jagged teeth, but now the crystals had become more orderly, and their primal shapes had softened. Their cloudy and opaque structures had become clearer and the colors lighter and more consistent.

The interaction between the crystals and the strings had vastly increased and after a moment of consideration, he recognized the patterns, and slipped into Harmony.

Ruwen kept his focus on his wings, not wanting to flood his senses with the grander symphony surrounding them, and he confirmed his suspicions. His wings had previously allowed him to alter melodies, shape harmonies, or adjust beats, but he’d needed to shape the modifications himself before launching them.

Now, Ruwen’s wings vibrated with possibility. For every harmony surrounding him, six options existed, poised like arrows the moment before release, full of energy and eager to strike. It felt like the eighth harmony, the symphony that held the tones of the universe, had seeped into his body, supplying him instant access to reshape the world.

Ruwen raised his eyes to the sky. The wind created a streak of green congruent harmony, the melody a swirl of chords, moving to a frantic but steady beat. With a thought he released one of the six harmonies linked to the wind, a functional harmony his wings had already produced.

The wind burst into a mash of reds and browns as it roiled from the new harmony. A keening sound appeared as the functional harmony altered the pitch of the tones and the chords tore at each other, the air churning as they battled.

Ruwen flicked the congruent harmony upward and the maelstrom forming above calmed, and in seconds, peace had returned. Like a spider in the middle of its web, he could sense the connections his wings held with the surroundings, and altering the environment now only took a thought.

The wings disappeared as Ruwen retracted them. “I’m different.”

“We know,” Overlord replied, “but we’re stuck with you.”

Rami laughed and Uruziel smiled at the comment.

Uruziel leaned forward. “It worked. Just like you said.”

Memories surfaced, and the details returned, causing Ruwen to touch his chest. “I’m not Harvesting or Refining anymore.”

“No, you’re not,” Uruziel responded, “we stopped that a year ago so your body could focus on recovery.”

Ruwen studied his hands, clenching and releasing them. Like the rest of his body, they felt heavier although they moved the same.

Ruwen’s mind had cleared, and he focused on Overlord. “You created that glass of water, but I didn’t feel you tap my Core.”

Overlord grinned as he responded. “I learned how to manipulate Spirit without a Core. It takes far more effort but I had the time.”

“I didn’t know that was possible,” Ruwen replied.

Uruziel tilted her head. “Maybe not knowing what’s considered possible is how you keep doing the impossible.”

“Ignorance is bliss,” Overlord agreed.

Ruwen shook his head and met Rami’s eyes. “Wait, stop the wagon. Did you say we only have a year left?”

Rami shrugged. “With the massive time dilation, we could probably stay another decade before Sift and Hamma got restless waiting for us. To answer your next few questions—yes twenty-nine years have passed—yes Uruziel is amazing and managed to compress you into an Archangel—no, I didn’t get bored—yes, I thoroughly studied the journals.”

Ruwen turned to Uruziel and bowed. “Thank you for managing the transition in such a short time.”

“It was your idea. I just kept it from killing you.”

Ruwen turned to Overlord. “What did you do?”

“Well, I get bored fast, just like you, so after a few discussions—”

Uruziel interrupted. “Begging.”

“Crying,” Rami added.

Overlord waved a hand at the two women. “Don’t listen to them. Since my only job was to keep this pit full of terium, I had a lot of free time, which gave me time to think.”

“I already don’t like where this is going,” Ruwen said.

Overlord continued, ignoring the comment. “No one can match our unarmed combat skills, which is great when we can reach our opponents. Our enemies will certainly know that and keep their distance, which is why I wanted to learn a few alternate methods of fighting.”

“A few, he says,” Uruziel muttered.

Overlord paused and glanced at Uruziel before continuing. “Okay, more than a few. The good news is I’d mastered them all in the two decades before your brain got too squished to safely let people out.”

Ruwen held up a hand. “Wait. Let people out?”

“Just Sivart at first, but it didn’t take long before Sivart had assembled experts in dozens of different weapons. Rami said when your brain recovers, she can transfer the muscle memories and knowledge from me to you.”

“You’ll need to practice awhile,” Rami added, “so the memories stick.”

Ruwen rubbed his temples. “So much has happened, but I feel like I just arrived. And the Spirit thing?” he asked Overlord.

A sword appeared in Overlord’s hand, the blade black, and the crossguard and hilt a dark red. “When the trainers couldn’t leave your mind anymore, Uruziel helped me figure out how to manipulate Spirit without a Core.”

“That sounds amazing,” Ruwen said. He turned to Uruziel. “Please tell me you didn’t sit here the whole time babysitting me.”

“After a few months, I felt confident I didn’t need to constantly monitor the process. The gravitational changes needed were predictable and slow. So, I split my time between studying the new level two Architect Role, and consolidating the knowledge Uru gave me.”

“All this blows me away,” Ruwen said. “You three worked for decades while I basically slept.”

“Yep, you don’t deserve us,” Rami said with a smile. “And now we all have things to share. So I suggest we divide your day into three equal slices, at least for the next few weeks, and we can each start the process of catching you up.”

Overlord and Uruziel nodded, so Rami continued. “I’d like to go first as I indexed all of Pen’s journals and I have a lot to share. Plus, Archie and I studied the sword, amulet, and idol you gave me from Pen’s Apocalypse Hoop, and that generated some ideas. Overlord is eager to show off his multiple weapon skills, and Uruziel experimented with your Architect Role to understand the level two changes better and also studied your new interface for clues.”

Ruwen sat quietly for a few moments, humbled by the support from his three friends. “I’m overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity. I’ll try and make it up to each of you.”

Rami brushed the air with a hand, as if wiping a table clean. “Don’t bother.”

“Unnecessary,” Uruziel added.

“I’ll let you know,” Overlord said, drawing glares from Rami and Uruziel. “What? We worked hard, and balance dictates a massive reward.”

“Massive?” Ruwen asked with a grin, before changing topics. “Your weapon training is a perfect opportunity to evaluate my new level two soul. Sift demonstrated a couple of basic shields and attacks last time but I still need to master them, and I’m thinking we might create some of our own.”

“Sounds fun,” Overlord responded.

“Stay here doing nothing for another hour,” Uruziel said Ruwen. She turned to Overlord. “And no strenuous or taxing activities for him today.”

Overlord leaned back in faked indignation, as if the thought had never occurred to him.

Ruwen laughed and turned back to Uruziel. “We all know it’s literally impossible for me to sit here for more than thirty seconds doing nothing. Can I at least go through the new interface Rami arranged for me?”

Uruziel sighed. “I suppose. It might help when we discuss it later.”

The four of them rose out of the depression as Uruziel manipulated the Gravity Shell surrounding them, and a second later Ruwen stood on the now terium free summit. The last thing he wanted to do was sit after being motionless for such a long time, and he sauntered toward the portal stone, planning to walk laps around it while studying his new displays.

Joy pierced through his aching body. They’d accomplished the primary purpose of coming here, and enough time remained to make even more progress.