Darkness was all Phaser could see, hear and feel.
He couldn't move. He couldn't feel his heartbeat. He couldn't even sense his Xana. It was as if existence itself had decided he wasn't part of it anymore.
He tried to breathe. Nothing. The air didn't exist here. He tried to step forward but there was no ground. There was only weightless, endless void. For a long moment, he simply drifted, the silence swallowing his thoughts until they blurred together.
"Did I fail?"
His voice barely echoed. It was devoured the instant it left his lips. A whisper followed, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
"You didn't."
In front of him, the void began to move.
It folded in on itself and from that distortion bloomed a crimson sigil. It glowed, forming a perfect crown of thorns. Phaser's breath caught in his throat. He recognized it instinctively.
"That's—"
"The sigil of the Concept Flux. My mark. Our mark."
He stared at the hovering crown
"So… you're my Flux?"
"Yes. But you regained control. That means I cannot affect you fully now."
"Why?"
"Because I am not your weapon."
That answer made Phaser blink.
"Then what are you?"
The crown glowed faintly brighter, almost as if it were smiling in the dark.
"I'm your defense mechanism."
The simplicity of it made Phaser frown.
"So you're… like a safety switch?"
"You could say that. When you are close to death, I awaken. When your mind fractures, I emerge. When you lose everything, I act. It's simple."
He crossed his arms, floating in that endless nothing.
"You make it sound like you enjoy it."
"Enjoyment isn't a concept I possess. But satisfaction… perhaps."
"You're not evil, are you?"
The voice chuckled softly, like wind through broken glass.
"Phaser, we're literally the same. If I'm evil, then you are too."
"Touché. Guess that so explains the attitude."
The crimson crown flickered once, then drifted closer until it hovered right before his face. Phaser could feel its warmth now.
"Listen carefully. I will only interfere when you are in extreme danger, or when your emotions spiral beyond your control. Otherwise, I will sleep."
"So you're… stuck with me forever?"
"You say that like it's a curse."
"I mean it's not exactly reassuring knowing I've got a sentient parasite living in my soul."
"A parasite?" The voice actually sounded amused now. "You wound me. You cannot erase me, Phaser. Even if you tried."
Something about the tone of that sentence made his skin crawl. The Concept Flux wasn't bound by his will. It chose to obey him and that made it far more dangerous than he wanted to admit.
"Now that I've accepted you, you will have control over fifty percent of me."
"Fifty percent? That's oddly specific."
"Because that is the limit. You cannot use any more than that without losing yourself."
"And if I somehow reach a hundred?"
The voice paused for a long, cold second.
"Then I take over until you come back to your senses."
"You don't mince words, huh?"
"There's no point in lies between us. You can never wield a hundred percent of me, no matter how strong you become."
"Why not?"
"Because it was part of the covenant sealed with the Goddess of Existence herself."
Phaser straightened. "The Goddess of Existence? Why would she—"
"Because the last Argemenes who used one hundred percent of their Concept Flux erased the entire North African region from the map. When it ended, the Sahara Desert came to existence."
The words sank into him like lead.
"So she restricted it."
"She didn't restrict it. Your bloodline agreed. The covenant was made to prevent another extinction. And she made the Concept Flux sentient so that no matter what, it would never happen again."
Phaser ran a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly.
"Guess I should say thanks for the safety limit?"
"Don't thank me. The limit is mercy, not kindness."
He chuckled dryly. "You're really bad at motivational speeches."
"You're still alive, aren't you?"
"Touche again."
The crimson crown pulsed faintly brighter, then shifted slightly, forming floating lines of light in the air. They circled around him slowly, imprinting themselves into his soul.
"Now that you've stabilized, you have access to your three capabilities of your the Concept Flux. First, you can absorb Xana from living beings, objects and locations saturated with it. Your body will naturally refine it into your own Xana. But be cautious. It would be best to absorb it and put it in a Fluveheart."
"So basically… I can drain people."
"If you lack self-control, yes."
"Noted."
"Second, you can imbue Flux Corrosion into a living being. It acts as a metaphysical decay. Their Flux weakens, their Xana destabilizes, their mind begins to blur. You can remove it, if you wish."
Phaser's brows furrowed. "That sounds… nasty."
"Third, you may now seal. You can create bindings that trap life or matter in isolated loops. However, this will consume most of your Xana and the sealed being will still be alive inside. Unless you want eternal torture, simply kill instead."
Phaser sighed, floating in the darkness, arms behind his head.
"So I can drain, rot, and imprison. Great résumé material."
"You asked for power. Is it not why you endured for none months?"
"Fair enough."
"You're halfway there, Phaser. The other half belongs to me. Always."
He looked down, though there was no ground to see.
"So, what now?"
"Now? You test it."
"Test it?"
"There's a Class Five Frost Beetle waiting in the arena. Seirath must have known your objective for taking the identity of the Lone Nomad. You think he didn't know you planned to kill it?"
He groaned, dragging a hand down his face.
"That man doesn't even know what rest means."
"Then prove him wrong. Show him you can endure."
"You sound like him."
"Maybe he sounds like me."
He chuckled under his breath, staring at the crimson crown hovering before him.
"So… this is it, huh? No more dying over and over?"
"That depends on you."
The void around him began to ripple, the symbol fading into a faint glow that. It sank into him silently, leaving a silver thorned crown etched over his collarbone, pulsing once before going still.
°°°°°°
The night above the Great Pyramid was unnervingly still. Hinesia sat cross-legged on her bed, a thick, leather-bound tome open in her lap. It was one of the ancient absurdly dense old tomes on elemental fusion. Her eyes fluttered lazily across the script when the first tremor hit.
The walls shivered. Dust drifted from the sandstone ceiling in soft curtains. She blinked, half expecting it to stop but it didn't. The vibration turned into a full-bodied quake, the entire structure humming like an angry creature awakened. She dropped the book instantly.
"Oh, don't tell me…"
The vibration intensified until her furniture toppled over. She didn't think twice. She bolted for the stairs. The elevator was too slow. However, the climb to the top felt endless. By the time she emerged into the open air, the wind hit her face like a wall. The night sky over the desert was no longer dark. A shimmering pulse of silver light was crawling up into the heavens.
"Asmarion!"
Her twin brother was already there, his arms outstretched as he struggled to maintain a colossal wind barrier. The gale that emanated from the light was enough to lift sand, stone, and debris into the air. His long hair lashed across his face, but his focus was absolute.
"Stay back! It's coming from the relic!"
"I know it's coming from the relic!"
Vilythe and Phyri were beside them, using their air element to stabilize the shockwaves. From the shadows near the pyramid's apex, their stepmother appeared. Her presence itself stilled the storm for a fraction of a second. She raised her golden staff, planting it into the ground as divine sigils spun around her.
"Protect the foundation! The resonance will destroy the upper floors if it keeps up!"
But before anyone could respond, the beam struck.
A silver column erupted skyward, cutting through the clouds and piercing the stratosphere. The world turned white. The sands of the desert ignited like a sea of stars, and even the constellations dimmed. The entire structure of the Great Pyramid thrummed with raw energy. Hinesia shielded her eyes, her voice barely audible over the gale.
"What is that—"
Asmarion's barrier groaned, the force of the beam pushing them all back. His hands trembled as he reinforced the spell, veins of cerulean wind energy streaking up his arms.
"If I let this go, we're all going to fly into the dunes!"
The shockwaves came in rhythmic pulses. Every throb of the beam sent gusts of wind powerful enough to flatten dunes miles away. Vilythe and Phyri helped Asmarion.
The moment the beam began to fade, the oppressive roar melted into silence. The silver light dispersed slowly, like mist dissolving into the night. From the heart of the residual haze, two silhouettes emerged.
First was Seirath. The man walked out as if he had merely returned from a stroll through the gardens. His hair was tousled but not a speck of dust clung to him. When he spotted them, he raised a hand casually.
"Good evening, everyone. Apologies for the disturbance."
"Disturbance?!" Asmarion shouted. "You just shook half the desert, father!"
Behind him, another figure stepped out and for a moment, no one said a word.
He wasn't the same person who had gone in. He waved once, casual as ever.
"Hey. I'm back."
The women blinked, unsure what to say. Phyri, who was normally the most composed, tilted her head.
"He looks… different."
"Different?" Vilythe muttered, squinting. "He looks like he just stepped out of a divine forge."
Even Hinesia, who prided herself on never losing composure, found her words caught in her throat. Her twin's barrier slowly dissipated, the air easing back into normalcy, but her focus was entirely on Phaser. The faint glow surrounding him pulsed once, and the sand around his feet rippled.
Seirath chuckled as he reached them, dusting off his cloak.
"His Concept Flux is stable and finally cooperative. Took him nine months of near-death, but he made peace with it."
Phaser smiled faintly, running a hand through his hair.
"If you call fighting for your life nine hundred times making peace, sure."
Asmarion exhaled in disbelief.
"You trained him in that state for nine months? You're insane, father."
"I prefer dedicated," Seirath corrected, with a grin that was entirely too proud.
The stepmother lowered her staff, the sigils around her fading.
"Fourth Awakening? He's crossed the boundary already?"
At that, the others turned back toward him.
Indeed, the aura radiating from Phaser was unmistakable. His silver Xana flowed visibly through the air. Hinesia crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"You look ridiculous."
"Ridiculously handsome, you mean?"
That earned him a snort from Vilythe, a quiet chuckle from Phyri, and an exasperated sigh from Asmarion.
"You were gone for nearly a year, and this is how you start? I would be complaining."
Seirath only laughed, clapping a hand on his student's shoulder. "That's my disciple."