"850 years... I've spent nearly a thousand years here?! you didn't say anything! Why didn't you say anything?!"
"Hey!" She feigned emotional hurt. "You should be thankful. Usually, time here runs much faster, but I slowed it down because I thought you might want to return at some point."
"Why didn't you say anything," I echoed, bringing my voice down a bit.
"You didn't ask." She replied.
"Oh my God," I mumbled.
"You're talking to her." She quipped
"For an all-powerful being, you are acting much more like a human than someone would expect."
"Well, I felt that it would be easier for us to communicate if I appeared a little more... human."
"Then where's your real body? Why don't you just use it instead?"
She cocked her head slightly and considered answering it for a few seconds. "I can't use it because you've been living in it."
"..."
"It would be impossible for you to talk to my real body." She continued, "The Earth and the rest of the universe is only a minuscule part of - well, me."
"Okay," I replied. It was all I could say. "Gosh... My brain hurts."
"It shouldn't. Your brain can hold infinitely more than a regular human." She appeared more bothered than I imagined she would.
"It doesn't actually hurt. A figure of speech."
"Oh, that's good," She responded, "I'd hate for something to happen to you. You are quite entertaining, after all."
'Nice,' I thought to myself. 'My life is solely a form of entertainment for her.'
"So you're sending me back?" I inquired.
"Yes, I would be incredibly bored if I didn't, although," She continued. "Although you wanted to return to Earth in the first place, I wouldn't have prevented you."
"And why is that?" I asked, curious.
"Because it would be entertaining to see." She stated. Her vacant eyes seemed to assess me.
I sighed. I didn't actually care if she decided to watch me. I was okay because long as I got to go back to Earth and look for Eirlys there. And check to see if Levi and my parents were doing okay. Everything else came secondary to me.
"Okay, are you sending me back now?"
She revealed her pearl white teeth in an enormous smile, but it was swiftly followed by a pout.
"The world you lived in has evolved quite a bit. I'll have to give you a few tips and tricks to help you when you get back."
"Firstly, A bit of general information about your world and all the significant events that occurred in the last 1000 years. I've also included some knowledge about your abilities and how to use them."
Memories flowed into my head, and from them, I was able to piece together what happened in the years since I'd died.
In the year 1078 A.D, a terrifying tsunami flooded the continents. It would have been a catastrophic event, but the tsunami was vastly different from anything anyone had ever experienced. It was black as the midnight sky and consumed everything. When the world woke up, they discovered that they had evolved into many diverse species with distinct qualities.
They were quickly grouped into the six main species; The Demonkin, The Ice Giants, The Beastkind, The Titans, The Humans, The Elves.
Each race further developed qualities that differed from each other in various ways. The world progressed into an Era of Magic, where talent in magic determined how influential you were in society.
Some other things changed -like the movement of the Continents to form a supercontinent called Pangaea- but I decided to go over them later.
"Okay, now I need to limit your powers somehow. If you went back with this type of strength, it could drastically affect the world again. Yo-"
"Again?" I was puzzled as to what she was talking about.
"Yes, again. You caused the tsunami that changed how the world was. It's why I'm partly glad your emotions are disappearing. Having that happening again would be quite bothersome. Emotions are such an unpredictable thing."
That was a lot to take in. I was the reason why the world had changed? It was my fault that many people had lost their humanity and become like they were now?
"Don't act so depressed." She said when I didn't speak for some time. "Personally, I liked what you did. And I doubt you'll hear people complaining about the change to Earth. Unfortunately," She maintained. "We ought to do something about your strength."
"Okay, I'm good with that. So what are you going to do?"
"The problem is I can't exactly drain all the Aether from your body. Your body is constantly absorbing Aether as a method of sustaining itself. Preventing that would just be a nuisance."
"So that's out of the question," I said impatiently. "What other way is there?"
She put her hand out in front of her and closed it. A bright light that forced me to briefly close my eyes shone from her enclosed fist. When I could finally open my eyes, I saw that her fist was open and something was in it.
"Take it." The item vanished from her hand with a faint woosh and appeared in my palm.
It was a silver earring cast into the shape of a cross. A dark crimson stone rested at the center. Even before I recognized the earring, I knew that what I was holding was valuable.
I recognized the stone from my new recollections. Manadite stones remained a dark crimson and grew brighter when they absorbed mana. They would grow brighter until they reached their limit and shattered.
"Hey," I called her attention to the stone at the center of the earring. "Isn't this useless to me? It's just going to break after it reaches its limit."
"That one is special," She pointed at the stone on the earring. It can constantly absorb Aether without a limit, so you can stop worrying." She informed.
"Cool," I answered sarcastically, "Anything else I to know?" I asked as I turned the earring in my hand, admiring its craftsmanship.
"Yes, this earring reduces the amount of Aether you draw in. Although it isn't enough for you to pass off as a regular human, you should be able to walk around without draining people of their Aether. Don't permit anyone to use this earring. Most people can use mana, but it's simply the watered-down form of Aether. Anyone who wears this earring or even touches the manadite stone will likely have their mana drained and die in the process." She warned.
"That's... good to know, I guess." I held the earring in my hand. It's not like I had a physical body to fix it on anyway. "I'm ready to go. Send me back now."
"A few more things. Secondly, you can take the earring off, but you'll lose your emotions. It could be for a few hours, or it could take days or even weeks before they returned, depending on how long you take it off for." She advised.
"Why would I lose my emotions because I took it off?
"You can think of that as a side effect of being non-human I suppose. Using your powers will slowly expunge your human emotions. If you want to live your life under the façade of a human, you should refrain from taking it off for too long."
"All right, I'll keep that in mind." I readied myself for the journey back. "I'm ready to go."
"Okay." She raised her arm to send me on my way.
"Ahh!" She said. "One more thing."
"Yeah, what is it?" I figured she would tell me something I didn't really need to know. But I'd momentarily forgotten the type of person she was.
"Your mother is still alive... In a way." She spoke.
My mind stalled for several moments while attempting to decipher the meaning of her words.
She proceeded. "She's been dreaming. Nevertheless, she's quite the obstinate woman considering she's still alive after nearly a thousand years. Send my greetings to her for me when you wake her up, Bye."
A cheeky smile came upon her face as she waved. My vision was filled with intense white flash. 'Damn her,' was my last thought before I fell unconscious.
In The Void, After Ren's Departure
As the brilliant light that irradiated the void slowly dissolved, it cast an umbra onto the dark smile etched on the woman's face. She chuckled lightly to herself and sat farther back into her throne.
"This should be very fun to watch." She hummed.