Lord Shadow

The moment he said that Azief could feel something binding him. 

This is not like some kind of pressure but an invisible string that seems to bind him with the Will of the world and the interconnectedness of everything around the world.

This is the dark price he thought to himself.

‘Would you like me to tell you what will happen? Or would you like me to show you?

Azief was shocked

‘You could do that?

‘I could not do it before. Six years had passed and I have a few things under my sleeve. Just because I did not make waves like you, did not mean I slack off. Hehehe’ she laughs a bit

Then she added

‘And it would be easier for you. This time you would not rack your brain trying to find if my words have some kind of implied meaning. Since you pay a higher price than normal people, I too have to up my service. I have to balance things out after all. If not, I would get a backlash’

Will who did not speak since the beginning suddenly said, his eyes glaring at Erika and ask her a question

‘Since when the Oracle become so generous?’

Erika laugh and then said

‘Since now’ she answers while looking straight at Will. Will only snorted and did not say anything else.

She then looks back at Azief and then said

‘So, how would you like to know about your future. Do you want me to give you a prophecy? Or would you like to see it for yourself?’

‘If I choose to see it, how do I guide the vision?’

Erika laughed again.

‘Since you came here, you probably already have something you wanted to see. In this world, you are the few people that was not interested at all with my power to see the future’

She laughs bitterly at this, like she was remembering some memories of the past. She then shakes her head, like trying to shake off the thoughts and then continue

‘You did not fear death; hence it is not your death you fear. Then it must be other kinds of things that pointe you toward me. I felt the Time Turbulence a few days ago. And I have the vision you coming to see me. Since that is the case, when you are in the Time Turbulence, you must have experience something magical. And this magical experience was not pleasant, if I have to guess. You must have seen something’ Smiling, she looks at Azief. Azief did not nod or shows any sign but Erika never needed such confirmation in the first place. 

This is a story that she already knows. Round and round it goes and the same story once again repeated today.

‘And you wanted to know for sure. After all, not every vision of the future could be trusted. And whatever you see in there, it is something you don’t want to believe. That is the cause and effect of why we are meeting today. And despite all of your efforts in the past to not see me, in the end, here you are, in front of me, asking the very same thing you thought you never ask from me’

Azief did not say anything just letting her talk. Because he did not know how to refute. Each words that she said is correct

Erika smirks and then chuckles a bit like she found something funny about all of this. 

In the end, probably only Loki would understand her thought. These wanderers that is cut off from time probably laugh and cry for different things.

But they are also the only one that probably understand each other loneliness and feeling the best. Like there were the only two people in the world.

It felt boring. And it felt exciting. 

Because they know how it begins and how it ends, they both have this kind of feeling of being bored, and being excited. 

Bored because of the same story, of the same words and action and excited when the words, the action and the story changed.

She laughs because she thinks she is slowly becoming that old friend of Loki. She did not have the experience but all the memories of her future self. All the vision she seen, it came from her future self.

But she never felt like she was the same with Loki. But today, while Azief would take his first step to become the Sovereign he was meant to be, she too took the step which would transform her.

That is why she laugh. And that is why her laugh could never be understood. 

Will could not understand it. In this whole wide Universe, probably only Loki would understand her feeling at this time

To stand at the turning point of the Universe history, that kind of knowledge bring all kinds of emotions 

Calming herself down, she then said toward Azief

‘It is actually quite simple. You are Divine Comprehension leveler. You at least have the power to manipulate Laws. Since that is the case, seeing the future with my help would not be that hard. You just have to focus on that focal point of time you remember. Then I would show you what lies beyond the Veil. Just don’t be surprised at what you will see along the way. Time…have a way of confusing perspectives’

Azief nodded and then he asks

‘What should I do?

‘Take my hand’ Erika said as she held out her hand. Azief did not hesitate as he took her hand. 

‘Now, since you don’t want to waste time, let us just go.’ 

Then Erika eyes turns cloudy and her entire eyeballs turns white. If one looks closer at her eyes, it was like clouds covers up her eyes.

She looks like she was possessed. Oracle has always bene the instrument of fate and destiny. And as such when they look at the future, they look like they got possessed.

At the same time, she holds Azief and and her eyes turning white, a weird source of power seems to envelop him

Azief could feel that the spirals of energy that slowly enveloping him is full with the trace essence of the purest law of Time he had ever had the chance to come in contact with

For a moment, he felt connected with Time, that abstract concept of the Universe. He could feel that there is a Time stream in the Universe flowing endlessly.

And he also notices something else. He could communicate with this energy and the moment he tries to; an image rises up in his mind. It was the image of an Etherna.

‘Borgan’ he thought to himself but before he could ponder more about this, he felt the pulling of the force forcing him to follow.

He quickly concentrates in what he is doing. He is not here to know some secret origin of the power of the Oracle, he came here to see the future.

He focusses his mind once again

Will stand behind them as protector watching if there is any intruder coming to mess this up. After all, Azief did rip apart the cloaking formation of the area

Azief on the other hand right now is traveling in someplace dark after being pulled by that force. He could not determine where he is.

Then he notices he is floating and he is flying across this darkens and eternal emptiness of space

He tries to stop, but there is a force pushing him to fly forward. The darkness slowly receded and then he felt sensation on his hand.

Then materializing out of nothing, the Oracle is beside him holding his hand, flying side by side. She then said

‘This is only temporary’ 

Then as her words finished, everything seems to explode into colorful colors and stars like existence could be seen in the distance.

Sceneries passes them by. Lives and death could be seen all around them. 

The empty space now did not seem as empty. And if before there is only darkness, now, all around them sparkling lights and beautiful hues of lights fills this eternal space.

‘Is this real?’ Azief ask. The Oracle simply said

‘If you are powerful enough, then believe.’

Azief took a second before he understands what the Oracle is trying to say to him

If one person is powerful enough, when he believes in it, it become real

Every once in a while, Azief could swear he sees his past self in the scenery that passes him by.

He could see a kid who got scraped in the knee and was crying and he could swear it was him when he was little. But the sceneries pass quickly, and like a dream, once seen, easily forgotten

It is quite something to describe the feeling and memories in this unknown place. 

Azief then realizes something. They are travelling through time. From the past of their life to the present and the last destination is their uncertain future. 

And while he might have seen his own past, Erika might have seen something different. 

Even in this area, Azief could still maintain a bit of thought and not completely swayed by what he had seen.

Maybe, to anyone that come here, what they see and what they experience would be different.

The ability of the Oracle is truly mysterious he thought to himself.

It was like a film strip that passes him by. In each of the strip is moment from his life. He wonders if all of it is jumbled would it still make sense?

Moments made time or Time connected Moments? He thought to himself. He looks deeper and the more he looks, the more things he could see.

He did not only see his past and present. 

He could see glimpses of the future that resulted from each and every one of his action. Like a guiding, hand, the past shaped the present and the present affect the future.

One simple action, one insignificant choice did not seem so insignificant in the large scheme of Time.

It connected. But then as his eyes sees deeper and he look past his own Time, he discovers that it is not only his Time, that he could see.

There are also many others. He could see the past and present of everyone connected to him.

Like that tie called Karma, or maybe it is Fate and Destiny that binds them, their present and their future was affected by him.

It is not only the people closets to him but also to people that he doesn’t even knows. 

The stronger he became, and the more things he could affect with his power, the ripples of his action ripples strongly and affect other people Time.

One action he did connected him with people and his action changes their trajectory of the future and the actions of these people also changes his past and future and the trajectory of the future. 

There is a connection that could not be seen unless one could see it from an objective seat, looking through the source, looking at the cause and effect of everyone involved.

By seeing all of this, only then one could truly determine the past and the resulting future.

Erika words then echoes inside his ears.

‘Don’t get distracted’

Then he turns his head to see the source of that sound

This time to his surprise he found out he is alone. Erika is no longer beside him and the scary thing was only now did he notices. 

But for some reason, he felt Erika is still holding his hand.

He stopped and avert his gaze from his past and then he was shocked once again. In front of him there is a veil. 

A large and gigantic veil that seems to stretch out from one end of to the other end. 

‘What the f-?’

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>