Solgrave patiently sat down, attempting to untangle Zack's dilemma. "Even when your parents broke their own damn rules, you didn't witness strange things daily. That's because a core concept—if believed to be true by the true Soul—stays true, no matter the interference!"
"So... ignore, and soon, what I truly believe in will be the only thing I see?" Zack asked, barely grasping the gibberish.
"Bingo!" Solgrave clapped. "Now pick a path. Fast. Pick. Now!"
"If I do, can I have one more question answered?" Zack begged until Solgrave relented.
"One," he said, stretching his hand forward like last time. "I'm pretty sure all the useless questions will be answered once you tap into the power for the hundredth time!"
Zack grabbed Solgrave's hand without hesitation, his memory already erased and rewritten. His breath hitched as Solgrave's grip tightened. "Third time's the charm," he said, anticipation—or dread—filling his heart.
"Trust your gut," Solgrave said, his voice a steady pulse in the swirling chaos, and once his grip slipped away, so did the world beneath Zack's feet.
Zack was nowhere and everywhere at once—standing at the center of the universe while simultaneously swirling it around his fingers as if it were a delicate marble. Small. Insignificant. Changeable. Saying immortality is the first power a Sani user unlocks is the understatement of the century. Sani is power; the power to do anything. The power to be anything.
Zack's true self pulsed—raw and unshackled—trying to hold its shape against the crushing infinity that was the information held within the marble. Every star, every molecule, every whisper of existence flooded into him—too much, too fast.
"I am everything!" Zack exclaimed with a deranged smile, his mind fracturing under his weak will. His body, a concept more than flesh, stretched and shredded under the weight. "I want everything the Soul Space has to offer -- I want... everything!"
'Nope… not like this…' Solgrave's grip grounded Zack, pulling him down—step by step—until they descended into something… less. The vast cosmic tide thinned into a smaller ocean. Zack could almost breathe, but even then, he slipped, drowning in a sea that had no end. No bottom.
Another step lower.
The ocean became a lake; Zack's thoughts settled, but the weight of all things still bent his reality into a jumbled mess.
'Eh! A few more steps,' Solgrave groaned.
The lake became a river. And then a stream, until—finally—they reached a small opening within the vast space; a pocket of existence where everything felt -- right. Manageable.
Solgrave let go of Zack's hand, spreading a thin layer of his Soul around the pocket dimension before letting Zack stabilize. Zack held the state—a delicate, impossible balance. For a heartbeat, he felt limitless yet controlled. Every piece of space, every fragment of reality tucked into its perfect place within his mind, within this pocket of space that was his, and his alone.
Then—a crack: his grip slipped. Reality rippled. The weight collapsed on him, crushing, twisting—
Solgrave caught him before he shattered, forcing the dimension that was Zack himself to stabilize.
Zack gasped, drenched in sweat. "Too much," he admitted, his voice raw and trembling.
Solgrave only smiled. "Then we go lower."
And they did. Again. And again. Until Zack found his limit, a fragment of space he could truly hold. A piece of infinity that would not consume him.
Solgrave appeared within the empty space Zack held together. "This space," he gestured around, "is your Sub-Space—it's you—within the entirety of existence, that is Soul Space! Until you have a grasp of it, you can do everything and anything that enters it... But be warned, for a tiny slip can either turn you mortal or into pure power, making you one with the Soul Space. Which is just a fancy way of saying you die." Solgrave chuckled.
Zack realized something before his mouth could deliver a counter, "Energy never dies—immortal in the very sense." He chuckled.
Solgrave's laughter shook Zack's soul space. "Good boy. See... I told you, you would understand once you get a handle on this power."
"This is unreal," Zack said, grinning and zooming across his soul space faster than lightning.
Solgrave measured the space with a quick glance, concluding it to be a "Wisp," first amongst the mortals of this universe at least. "Not bad, kid. Not bad at all."
"Wisp? What is that?" Zack asked. "Also, thinking in here is as good as inserting a drive in my longer-term memory bank, so, just, don't!"
"Want that to be your final question?" Solgrave asked, frowning. "Also, don't get cocky. That's about the only reason why all newbies die immediately. And it is also the one other reason for deaths in the soul realm," he whispered the last part.
In shock, Zack ripped out his mouth—a tiny ball of void appearing in its place. Solgrave used hand signals to make Zack realize he had removed the concept of sound within his soul space with that ridiculous act, and once Zack changed his state of mind and followed through by rewriting the reality within his realm, sound once again existed.
"Good grief, kid," Solgrave chuckled. "At least you didn't remove the concept of communication like that pink girl did." Solgrave rubbed his forehead. "I have phantom headaches whenever I deal with her. She is one weird girl, I can assure you that much."
Zack's imagination reformed his mouth without him noticing. "What are these concepts?" He asks. "I mean... I kinda understand them—yet I don't. It's the weirdest feeling I've ever felt. No! I've never felt such..."
Zack struggled to find the right word until he realized that no one had discovered such a word for him to express. He should know, as he once flipped through a dictionary for fun and could now access every single word in alphabetical order. To make matters worse, Solgrave's laughter and ridiculous riddles only added to the confusion.
Zack's Sub-Space turned orange as fire consumed every inch of it, yet Solgrave stood unfazed, while his words bore a hole through Zack's patience.
"What good is knowledge in an ever-changing reality?" Solgrave asked, laughing his lungs out. "You can rewrite realities, yet ponder on which action creates what reaction! What is, is, so believe that you know, and you shall."
For Zack, it was as if Solgrave had asked him to recall a memory he never had in the first place. Solgrave was the superior Soul, even though he was present within Zack's Sub-Space; yet, based on the knowledge Zack received from the universe, he was supposed to win, for they were in his domain.
Instead of flexing his ego, Zack tried probing Solgrave's memory for answers. If he could hear all of Solgrave's thoughts, then, in theory, he should also be able to access all of his memories.
Zack pushed his entire being onto Solgrave, constraining and invading his mentor's Soul, but the well-anticipated 'Battle of Wills' never came, for this was a one-sided slaughter. God or not, Solgrave still prevailed in a reality that wasn't his own.
"Kids!" Solgrave sighed, pushing back the collapsing reality.
Zack imagined Solgrave between two trucks, between two buildings, and even between two planets—yet Solgrave stretched his hands in an almost lazy manner, pushing away any reality Zack threw. The rules were simplicity itself, and Zack only noticed the obvious when he found his reality—his Sub-Space—trapped inside that of Solgrave's. He was but a fly, stuck on Solgrave's palm, waiting for the fist to close and end it all.
"I clearly remember telling you that 'Ego' is our only weakness!" Solgrave said, shaking his head in disappointment. "Store that knowledge well, brat!" He let go, allowing Zack to regain control of his realm.
Zack glanced around, for the first time noticing a thin layer around his Sub-Space. "Since when?"
"The beginning!" Solgrave gave a tooty grin. "You see... my ego is much smaller than yours. That is why I am your superior."
"Why not obliterate it?"
"Then there won't be any difference between a broken soul and a real one!"
"Death!"
"Bingo." Solgrave winked. "Now, if you're done wasting my time. Shall we move on to more pressing matters?"
"Why can't you just answer my questions then?!" Zack said, his world trembling and forcing grief onto Solgrave. "What's the purpose of such deceit? These ridiculous puzzles?"
"Well... for one," Solgrave said, shrugging off the superimposed effects. "And for two, this power is unlike any other. It's about the Soul, about power, yes. But that's just its origins, not how one wields it!"
Solgrave took a step back, his hold over Zack's soul space slipping away, giving Zack the power to end his existence. "Riddle me this: if two immortals fight for their lives, who would win?"
———<>||<>——— End of Chapter Twelve. ———<>||<>———