Laughter. That's the first thing I noticed in the dark. Incessant. Unrestrained. Violent. I couldn't see. Couldn't speak. All the void offered was the sound of laughter. Darkness coiled around my limbs like snakes, binding me in place. If "place" could even describe where I was.
Then something, a dark tendril maybe, reached for my face, and began to carve. Carve what? My eyes, I suppose. I felt the tendril slip past my skin, cutting open a hole. Its touch was light, like a shadow, barely having any presence. And yet it was there.
For a split second, light spilled into view. But just as quickly as it struck, it faded away, like a strike of lightning on a stormy day. My eyes were met with darkness, a complete deep black. But even in that, I could make out what was before me. A figure. A man.
It was like he was the sole illuminator of this world. A being that stood out within the vast, cold void. His laughter rippled throughout it, like someone had just told the funniest joke in the world. Dark skin, graying brown hair, wide smile. He pointed toward me. I gritted my teeth, almost biting my tongue.
That's… me?
It was impossible. That old worn face, those tired eyes, those lips that would never smile again… but it was me.
No, that's wrong. I know what this is.
I took in the familiar cold embrace. Something I felt only weeks prior. Something that brought me back to the battlefield, where a sword through the spine dictated my end. Death. Maybe that's what this was. I glared at the figure, at me.
All of a sudden, it was clear why I was laughing at myself. I had failed. Countless times. All under the guise I would do it better. Fragmented scenes began to spill into my head, memories of past lives. Blood stained hands forcing jaws apart. The murder of my companions, accompanied by a declaration of love. Pathetic.
Guiding gentle winds as I taught Terry and Jacob to cultivate, only to soon witness Leah's gored body, and to be blessed by Charlotte's blood baptism. Useless. Useless.
"You haven't changed at all. You're still so useless," I said to myself. No, not me. Deep down I knew. There was only one possible answer—the truth behind this existence. If it wasn't death, I didn't know what else it could be. That meant, death too, was mocking me. Wearing my face like a fool's mask.
Useless. I'm still so—
"—No," my voice resounded across the plane. Death stopped laughing. I balled my hands into fists, resisting the coiling around my limbs. "I said I'd do better," I faced death, locking eyes with it. Looking closely, its face wasn't quite right. As if it was in the process of melting. Because of that, its expression fell, smile drooping into a poor mimicry of a frown. "Mark my words. This time will be different."
At those words it turned away, almost bored. And at the edge of the darkness, light began to spill into the void. The countless tendrils binding me crept away, retreating into the deepest pits of the void.
You don't get to wear my face. Not anymore.
The last thing I saw was a flash of bright light blazing away the darkness. And then I heard death's words, hopefully for the last time.
"I'll be waiting for you."
And then there was nothing
I woke to sharp pain—thousands of needles penetrating my skull. My body was sprawled across the ground, my limbs heavier than ever. The sun hung low in the sky, looking as if it were already ready to set.
I overslept.
I forced my body into motion, rubbing my eyes as I picked myself up. I took a look around the forest. No one was in my immediate vicinity. That was what I thought.
"Awake already?"
A voice came from behind me. My body tensed. Footsteps sounded behind me as the person got closer. "Relax, dude, it's me."
A hand gripped my shoulder as I turned around. The person facing me was none other than Jacob. I sighed. "Don't scare me like that, seriously."
"That's what I should be saying," he smiled at me. It fell flat. Something was wrong. "I thought you'd never wake."
"Why's that?"
"You've slept through most of the day, don't tell me you didn't notice?"
Actually it was among the first things I noticed when I woke up.
"No, I did notice. That doesn't mean you couldn't have woken me, or that I would have slept forever though."
Jacob laughed, something strange like his heart wasn't really in it. "This forest is strange, Paul. It's making everyone…"
"Weird?"
"Yeah. Weird."
This time as well… could it be the forest is changing us? It's a constant in each loop.
If that was true, I could have already been compromised. I just wouldn't know by what until it was too late. That meant I had to act fast.
"Jake, where is everyone?"
"In the clearing, they're all doing their own thing. But…"
"But?"
"Charlotte's gone."
Fuck.
My hand balled into a fist. If Charlotte was gone, that meant there was a chance she could've been attacked by the Strawman before the rest of us. And knowing the sun was setting, it was a given the Strawman would attack soon. Which meant if we wanted to survive, I couldn't let it reach them.
I needed a solution, and fast. A way to stop the Strawman in its tracks rather than killing it. What could I use? Then a thought struck me. This whole forest was dangerous, filled to the brim with Demons, the Strawman, the faced trees and probably more. But there was one thing I could use, a universal killer the forest itself provided for me.
The air is heavy with ambient Potus. Then, this should work shouldn't it?
I was not a genius. I had no talent, no Ardor reserves to speak of. In this life all I had was knowledge, and if I couldn't overpower the enemy, that meant I'd have to put it in a situation where it couldn't get us.
My hand reached out into the air as a surge of energy flowed through it. Not Gale this time, but pure raw Ardor. It pulsed, rippling green light through my skin as it began to pull in the Potus. The air condensed into droplets that trickled down my fingers, pooling into a cool purple liquid in my palm. An almost relaxing sensation.
It's almost too easy…
I wasn't creating poison like I created wind. Rather than creating poison, I was simply condensing the existing Potus in the air into liquid by pulling it in with raw Ardor. All I did was change its state of matter.
I have no talent for Potus. I don't need it. Raw Ardor at high intensity attracts and pulls in nearby Wills.
I watched the liquid stream from my hands down onto the ground, staining the grass with its color. In a way it reminded me of Charlotte's death, the way blood rained upon the grass and us alike, staining us with its crimson hue.
"I won't let it happen again," I muttered. I tilted my palm, showing Jacob what lay within it. He raised an eyebrow.
"You've got poison powers now?"
"Not quite," I said, looking at my own reflection within the liquid. A neutral face. Strange. I didn't know why I was so calm in the moment. I thought about what Jacob said earlier. That everyone was acting weird. "I think I know why everyone's acting strange."
It's the air itself. The poison seems to have no physical effect at touch, but just now I definitely changed.
"This have anything to do with the poison in your hands?"
"Let me make this clear, I can't make poison. I have an affinity for Gale, so I can only do things like make sound waves or create winds."
"Then," Jacob scanned the forest, looking for where I could have gotten the poison. "You got that from the air, right? I'm guessing you condensed it somehow."
"Exactly," I said. "And I could teach you how to do that too."
Jacob hesitated. "How long would that take?"
"For you? A few minutes," I said, and I wasn't lying. With Jacob's Aberration and talent with Ardor, he wouldn't technically have to form a Prana to condense the Potus in the air. My past life taught me that much. A spark lit within his eyes.
"Alright. Show me then."
"Watch closely."
I reached out with my left hand this time, guiding Ardor through it. My hand glowed green as the Ardor emanated from it, faintly reaching outside of my body. From there, the Potus drew closer being pulled together by the force of raw Ardor. Finally, purple liquid began to form, spilling through my fingers.
"And that's how you do it," I said. Jacob blinked. "Something wrong?" I asked.
"Well, I saw the path of the Ardor," he said, his usual smile returning to his face. "But I don't actually know how to harness it."
"Oh, sorry," I apologized to him. It was such a simple oversight, but after spending so much time within this world, I had forgotten normal people like us couldn't just channel Ardor like that.
In my first life Terry and Jacob were the first to learn to cultivate, they were the ones that taught me. Now I'm here teaching Jake. It's strange.
"It's simple. Close your eyes and think of the energy in your body."
"Okay," Jacob closed his eyes. "What next?"
To use Ardor, you have to have a clear-cut goal in mind, so…
"Don't think of anything else other than the poison. Then, picture your energy flowing through your arm, and reach out."
Jacob's hand began to glow yellow as he stretched his hand out. As the Ardor pulsed reaching outside of his hand, the surrounding air began to draw toward him. Purple liquid pooled into his palm in just a matter of seconds.
"Alright, that's enough." I said expecting him to stop. He didn't. More and more Potus began to gather forming a ring of poison around his hand. He opened his eyes and looked over at me. "Look, isn't this awesome!"
How is he channeling this much raw Ardor? No more importantly if he continues with that—
"—Jake, stop!"
"Why?" He asked as the ring began to expand. He pushed more Ardor outward, smile widening. "It's a cool trick!"
I felt my hair start to raise, as I watched Jacob's hair practically rise off of his head. Static electricity. It was too late. I jumped back, throwing myself onto the ground as yellow sparks flew into the air. There was a flash of light, and then a bolt of lightning descended upon Jake, scorching the earth beneath him.