((Work in Progress))

[Sekot]

((I'm not sure that worked out as entirely well as I wanted it to. I wanted to introduce a new character, but the sheer happiness that post was infected with kinda made it a massive leap from how I normally write. It definitely isn't as good a quality as should be expected from me. >.<

Granted this is still a rough draft =P.))

[Sekot]

Benny awoke with Brittaniae standing above him, a smile on her kind face. He smiled back and rose up on his elbows. “Mornin’,” he said after yawning.

“Good morning, now get up. Your training begins today,” she responded, promptly leaving the room.

Benny sighed and rose from his bed. He stretched and groaned before moving to his clothing. As he was getting dressed, he reflected on how strange it was that he was getting into training so quickly. Then again, he had been here for a few days already. That thought, though, grabbed his attention. Had he really been here for so long? Time seemed to have slipped away from him. He almost felt like he had only arrived the other day. His mind seemed to be clouded in fog, but he didn’t want to search it for a reason why. He was excited to begin this training, something he had been awaiting for a long time now.

The sun was just climbing over the horizon to the east, large and radiant. Benny immediately felt its warmth basking upon his exposed skin. “Follow me,” Brittaniae’s sultry voice said from beside him.

Startled, Benny looked to his side to see the woman already moving into the fields outside the camp. As Benny followed, he saw the other occupants in the camp moving about and cleaning up whatever was left outside. “What’s going on?” Benny asked, catching up to his guide.

“We’re getting ready to leave. Remember, I told you we are a nomadic people. It is time we move into the Valley,” Brittaniae answered without looking back.

“Why must you go through the Valley?”

“Because it is the quickest way to where we want to go.”

“And where do you want to go?”

Brittanniae merely smiled at him, “You’ll find out eventually."

Benny dropped the issue at that, instead looking up into the brown sky. Clouds broiled and spun in intricate patterns. “What planet is this?”

“You will find out everything you wish to know in time.”

Benny glanced at Brittaniae, frowned, and then shrugged. It was obvious that this woman disliked questions. It was pointless to keep pestering her. So he continued to walk in silence until they came to a small clearing in the grass. The ground here looked familiar to Benny, felt familiar, but he was certain he had never been here before. “What is this place?” he asked once he noticed that Brittaniae had stopped in the middle of the clearing.

“This is where you will begin your training. For today at least. As we move into the Valley, we will have to continue there. To begin, I want you to sit upon the earth and close your eyes.”

Benny did so, crossing his legs and placing his hands upon his knees. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “Now, look into the depths of your soul, search yourself for a certain place that will feel odd to you, out of place.”

His soul? Benny resisted the urge to open his eyes and stare hard at the woman for all the crap being fed to him, but he did as he was told. He took in another deep breath, calming himself and vainly attempting to look where he thought his soul would be. It didn’t surprise him when he found nothing within his body. He felt his pulse, he felt his chest rise and fall as each breath was taken and released. He heard the wind brush against the brown, brittle grass. He could hear Brittanniae’s own breaths. But he could not find his soul. It was frustrating. He did not know what he was supposed to find, where his “soul” was.

“You’re searching amongst all the wrong places,” Brittanniae said, her voice piercing his thoughts. “Open yourself, lose consciousness, and lose your will.”

With another deep breath, this one released slightly more forcefully, Benny shut off the flow of thought and pretended like he was releasing his body to the wind. He felt like he was floating, his body being carried up and up and away from the brown land. Everything was brown. Everything was dead. And just like that he felt it. It was within him, and yet outside of him. It was hollow, a void within his body. Reaching out for it, he stretched his fingers are far as they would go.

He opened his eyes, feeling a sudden surge flow through him. The air about him became brittle and cruel. It crackled and snapped, the earth felt hot and the air cold. Brittanniae was staring at him. Her gaze cold, like a teacher congratulating a student at solving a problem so easy it was beneath her attention in the first place. “Feel it, and grab it!” she spoke, her voice harsh in Benny’s ears.

He wanted to grimace, but his face felt heavy. His entire body felt heavy. He closed his eyes again and was instantly back in the place, the void where another void did float. Taking a step closer, the void trembled and shook, the very world about Benny quaking in his terror. What was this power, what was this void? This was his soul? Why was a soul so cold? So dark? He wanted to grasp it, but he was afraid of what it would do to him.

He braced himself and then reached out a hand. His fingertips brushed against the void, and the world collapsed. It shattered like broken glass and years of a past Benny hardly recognized flew past him. The world beyond the void was in a dichotomy. Half of the world was peaceful, a tranquil wind with a blue sky. The other was harsh and barren, grey and in turmoil. Benny feared the world in pain, but he was tempted towards it. Something there was calling his name, wanting him to come forth. “Can you feel it?” Brittanniae’s voice said from the heavens as if she were a goddess. “Every soul has two parts, though yours is far more volatile and chaotic. It is up to you to decide how you will resolve this problem and return this place to the order it needs to grow.”

Benny didn’t have the slightest clue as to what this woman meant. But his fear of the anguish was greater than the temptation. He refused to step foot on that side of the line, instead moving onto the peaceful side where clear water lapped at a silvery beach. He instantly felt calm, the world of turmoil becoming smaller in the distance like a far off storm. Benny moved closer to the edge of the water and marveled at its beauty. Small fish swam in the shallows, the sand beneath reflecting the light like a prism. The water took on many hues, all pleasing to the eye. Benny took a seat there on the sand, and brought his legs close to his body. Looking up at the sky, he saw the clouds and the birds as they danced.

“Who are you?”

Benny looked to his left, a little boy with wide eyes stared back at him. Benny couldn’t help but feel something was odd about the boy. His hair was tousled and messy, his clothing nothing more than rags. The child was happy though. Benny could feel that the boy was content rather than see it. “Me? I’m nobody,” Benny answered.

“How can you be nobody?” the little boy asked.

“I don’t know really,” Benny answered truthfully.

“Did you come from there?” the boy asked, his finger pointing in the direction of the dark storm clouds.

Benny shook his head, “No, I came from somewhere else.”

“Good! Then we can be friends,” the little boy said, placing himself next to Benny on the sandy beach.

Benny smiled as the boy sat next to him and together they looked over the horizon. But Benny felt disquiet within him. The darkness at his back beckoned him to turn and look upon it. He was tempted to see what lay behind the heavy curtain. But the sun was so warm upon his face, the breeze so soft. He dared no turn away from it lest he forget what it felt like. “Do you like it here?” the little boy asked after several moments of silence.

“Yes, very much so.”

“You can stay here, forever, with me,” the boy said, turning his large eyes back to Benny’s. “The dark place is scary. Sometimes monsters come and they do mean things. Sometimes the light disappears and fires come.”

Benny looked at the boy with a look of concern. “Do they hurt you?”

The little boy nodded and tears began to fall down his face. “It’s so scary,” he sobbed.

Benny hesitated, unsure of what to do. But, unbidden, an image arose out of the water. It was an older woman placing her arm about a boy about the same age as the one sitting next to Benny. Slowly he raised his own arm and then placed it upon the boy’s shoulder, bringing him closer. The boy placed his head against Benny’s leg and began to cry in earnest. Benny ignored the tears as they dripped down his leg, instead choosing to comfort the sad little boy.

Out of the water rose more and more images. Benny did not know what they were. He did not know why they were here. Was this his soul? Then were these supposed to be his memories? He didn’t remember any of these. These weren’t him. These belonged to someone else. But what he saw was the past of a ravaged childhood. The mother, a constant drunk, swung all sorts of things at her child. Hadn’t Benny just seen her comforting the poor child?

The environment around the boy was poor and ragged. Older children beat on him and cast him aside. The boy grew into a young man and turned to drugs and petty thievery. A promising adulthood disappeared in the span of a few images. The young man grew into a monster, a criminal. Eyes were sunk within dark sockets; pale flesh was pulled tight against the bones. A mockery of a human appeared above the water, beaten, drugged, and poor.

“This is your past,” Brittanniae said. “Whether you believe it or not, you went through all of this. This little boy you hold in your arm was once you, you who was beaten by your own mother and is afraid of the darkness that brings all your pain back to you. Now let this world fade, and see the other part of yourself that you shunned.”

Benny thought of refusing her, but the calls were stronger now. The boy had fallen asleep upon the sand and did not notice Benny rising and turning away from the sunshine and the water. The darkness stared back at him, the thick woods and clouded sky. With every step he took, he wanted to refuse and run. But when he reached the woods, he knew he could not turn back. The darkness closed about him and denied him any escape. The warmth of the beach was gone and Benny could now see his breath in the air.

Suddenly Benny felt a presence beside him. He looked out of the corner of his eye, fearful of turning his head. What he saw was a dense darkness. It was opaque like a painted wall, but it held gravity. Slowly Benny turned his head, wanting to grasp the entire image. The thing next to him was indeed entirely black, but it captured his attention and he felt like it enveloped his mind. His vision focused only on the void and he felt suddenly weightless. “So you have come,” the void said with a heavy voice that shook Benny to the core. “You have seen your past, and I can show you your future.”

The void coalesced into flimsy shapes that barely held an outline. They trembled and wobbled back and forth. They screamed in terror and agony and Benny felt their despair wash over him. He felt their pain and their anger. He felt strangely invigorated by it, and he wanted more. But still a part of him held back. This was not right. It was terrifying. These people, they were dying. “You are responsible for all of this,” the voice said, picking up on his emotions.

“Why?” Benny asked.

“It is your future, your current future. Or part of it. Here is the part of your soul that will determine how these people suffer and why. The answer to your question will come in time.”

Benny watched in horror as the images collapsed onto each other, twisting weapons and mangled appendages. The scene disgusted Benny, though he could not shake that part of him that wanted this to happen. What kind of monster was in him that wanted to see the deaths of such people? “Who am I?” Benny asked.

“You are a savior.”

Benny did not turn to look behind him; Brittanniae instead chose to step next to him. “What you see will indeed be the cause of your actions. But these people suffer because it is necessary. To cleanse the universe of its pain and death, you must leave a path of destruction behind you.”

“What cleansing? Why do I need to cleanse the universe?” Benny asked, incredulous.

“So that your past is never repeated. This part of you is the result of what happened all those years ago. Do you think you are the only one who experiences such things? You have a gift, Benny. You have the ability to stop this all from happening. You have the ability to create a world where suffering is a thing of the past. You can bring Heaven to us all.”

Benny looked deeply into Brittanniae’s eyes. He was afraid to delve too deeply. There was something not right behind those eyes. “The universe suffers. Everyone suffers. It is your duty to end that suffering. But the path is a lonely and painful one. You must be ready to walk this path and never look back.”

Benny looked away from her and back to the scenery folding around him. Was this truly his future? It would be so simple to turn back and live in the world of light and beauty. This world was a deranged abomination of the real thing. Did Benny truly want this?

But to end all suffering. To Benny, that seemed like a noble goal indeed. The time old question rose within his mind. ‘Do the ends justify the means?’ Benny wasn’t sure of the answer. He looked back at the woman at his side. “What would you do?”

Brittanniae’s brows rose up high, “You’re asking me? I’m afraid I can’t answer that question for you. I do not have the power that you have.”

“What power?” Benny asked. “I don’t have any power. I’m just a man. Why do I have to make any choice, especially one this large?”

Brittanniae sighed and stepped away from Benny. The world collapsed around them and Benny once again found himself on dirty ground below a yellow sky. “You have a power that has been passed down for ages. Very few can attest to having such abilities. You have the power of kings, of emperors, and you have the ability to control empires.”

Brittanniae raised her hand, palm upwards. Darkness enveloped the hand, twisting about it and above it almost like fire. “The past isn’t for you. Happiness isn’t for you. That part of you was destroyed. Embrace your path and command legions.”

“I..I…” Benny stammered.

“You what!” Brittaniae bellowed. “You’re going to be selfish and choose the easy path?! You’re going to let the universe suffer so that you can be happy?! Look around you. Look at this world. Does it look alive to you? Look at the sky, do you think that color is normal? Do you really want to let other worlds succumb to the same fate as this one?”

Benny looked about him, over the vast plain. Now that he was truly looking at his surroundings, he noticed that the world was truly dead. Craters pockmarked the ground like the surface of the moon. Trees were bent and shattered. The grass was brittle and yellow. It was all dead. Every last bit of it. “I can’t make this decision, not yet,” Benny said in an almost whisper.

Brittanniae sighed, “Fine. But you will have to make it soon. The universe can’t wait for you forever.”

With that last word, she turned and began walking back towards the valley opening. The caravan was already packed and ready to leave. Benny followed, unsure of whether or not he should be following this woman. The unnatural walls of the canyon seemed oppressive and grim. They felt like skeletons to Benny. What had happened to this world? And how could he stop it? “I’m just one man,” he whispered. “What do I know of the universe?”