As we tread atop the bloodsoaked dirt of the silent village, the day fading, I try and avoid looking too closely at the mangled remains. Before today, I'd never seen a corpse in real life, only on the screen; and certainly none in this state. To be honest, I'm slightly freaked out over how well I'm dealing with everything. I suspect I have my mastery of the Jing Stage of my cultivation to thank for my stability; if it wasn't for the emotional regulation it taught me, I'd probably be overwhelmed by recent events.
In the span of a single day, I've seen a village be destroyed and its inhabitants slaughtered, encountered Deviants and Eternals, and killed something. That something may have been a cosmically engineered creature of death, but it was still living.
And I stabbed through its skull with a fucking sword.
I try and ignore the pleasant shiver that thought sends down my spine; now isn't the time to psychoanalyse myself.
As our group walks through the centre of the village, the two Eternals take up the front and rear, Gilgamesh leading, and Thena behind, in case there are any more Deviants hiding. Wu Cai and I walk between them, side by side, both our swords drawn. He has an expression on his sorrow on his face as he gazes around at the death and destruction. I've left him to his thoughts for now, knowing he'll talk to me when he wants too.
I myself have been busy wondering how to deal with any possible survivors. The varying ages and genders of the villagers opens up all kinds of potential reactions. Should they be children, Thena and me would probably be the best choice to initiate contact, while Wu Cai and Gilgamesh can deal with the adults, their ethnicity providing familiarity.
As we pass by a relatively intact house, its wooden structure untouched by the fire, Thena calls out from behind us, breaking me out of my thoughts. Seeing that she hasn't created herself any weaponry, I doubt there's any danger, but I keep Jian out just in case. She walks to the homes entrance and slides it open, then turns towards us, "I heard movement inside. Stay on guard while I check it out." Wu Cai and I nod at her, while Gilgamesh tells her to be careful.
She steps into the building and out of our sight. After a few seconds, a childish scream of anger sounds out from inside, before it becomes muffled. As we stand, vigilant, Thena steps out holding a struggling, dirty girl, no older then ten, under her arm, one hand over her mouth. The unknown girl has a small blade in one hand, that she uses to stab at Thena, who blocks the attacks with ease, while trying not to hurt the child. Holding her stabbing hand, she gently lowers the girl to the ground, releases her, then steps back.
The child scrambles to her feet, her eyes flicking between us all, and hold out her knife defensively. Seeing her frantic state, I sheathe Jian and move over to Thena, to get the girls attention and keep her eyes off the carnage around us. Her eyes track me as I move, before I start to speak, keeping my voice soft and calm, "Don't worry, we mean you no harm." I tell her, but the girl says nothing and keeps her blade up.
I start to move towards her with my hands up, causing the girl to move back. Stopping, I crouch down into a half-kneel, getting to eye level with her, "Keep your eyes on me, okay? Don't look around." From what I've been able to gather, the villagers started to run to the edge of the village once the attack started, hoping to escape. So, deep in the village as we are, there are few bodies, but they still exist. Now out in the open, the girl has the chance to see something that could traumatise her further.
A look of confusion appears on the child's face, before she stills, understanding the meaning of my words. She stares at me, her eyes wide, as I nod at her. I watch in worry as she begins to look out of the corner of her vision, causing me to rush to her, reaching her and placing my hand over her eyes before she can react. The girl flinches at the contact, but doesn't retaliate as I pull her into me. The girls stiffens up, then slowly relaxes and lowers her weapon.
She leans into me, and starts to quietly cry.
…
It takes ten minutes for the girl to calm down, before she falls asleep on me, the events of the day catching up to her. After Wu Cai enters her home and makes sure there isn't anything she shouldn't see, I pick her up and carry her inside, placing her on what I believe to be her bed. Getting her comfortable, I place a hand on her head and start to channel my Chi into her, looking for any injuries. As my Chi circulates her system, her own, uncultivated Chi, responds in a weird way.
I call over to Wu Cai, who has been watching the girl with concern. When he gets to my side, I ask him, "You know what a persons Chi feels like, right? Can you check the girl, please?" Apart from my own odd Chi, the only other persons Chi I have properly sensed is Wu Cai's, so I need his expert opinion. Even though he doesn't understand my worry, he does as I ask, placing his hand on her arm and sensing her Chi. A couple seconds later, he pulls his hand back and looks at me in confusion.
"...This child's Chi is like none I have ever felt before. It's similar to the average human, but there's something different about it; there's an unknown quality to it that I've never encountered." He stares at the girl strangely, then turns to me and asks, "Does your ability to understand objects work on people?" Wu Cai doesn't know the full extent of Spirit Reading, so he doesn't know I can, but he knows enough to question me.
I lower my head, making it seem like I'm thinking, before I look at him, uncertainty on my face, "...I'm not sure. With objects, it just happens, but with people, it's never triggered." I tell him, then continue, "It's worth a shot though. I certainly don't want to start healing the girl, only for her body to react badly to it for any reason." Wu Cai nods at me. After seeing that he recognises my concerns, I place a hand back on her head, and begin to read her.
As this is my first time reading a person, I close my eyes to concentrate, making sure I don't make a mistake somehow. Focusing on where we are connected, I feel for her spirit. It takes a minute, but my divination, aided by my cultivation, finally gets her spirit to open itself to me,
[Spirit Read –
Name – Jing Huo
Species – Mutant (Homo superior)
History – An unawakened mutant born to a hunter father and a caring mother, Jing Huo lived the first ten years of her life in peace, listening to and obeying her parents. The trajectory of her life underwent a drastic shift recently, as a group of Deviants attacked her village, slaughtering the inhabitants. Eating their way through the villagers, the creatures eventually reached her family home.
To give their daughter the greatest chance at survival, her parents hid her and lead the Deviants away, dying in the process. Jing Huo remained hidden even as day turned to night, and the presence of the Deviants faded. As she was losing her fight against sleep, the Eternal, Thena, discovered her. Now, she rests under the guard of those who saved her, full of fear and worry.]
The result of my divination are a surprise, to say the least. The fact that this Jing Huo is a mutant has profound implications.
Mutants didn't start appearing in the main chronology of the movies, the Sacred Timeline, until after Loki became the God of Stories and freed the timeline, rejoining it with the wider multiverse. While I'm happy to know that the TVA won't be coming after me, sending me to the Void at the end of time, due to their focus on eliminating Variants of He Who Remains; I now have no idea what to expect from this reality.
The timeline I've been sent to could have absolutely no relation to Earth-616. I knew, subconsciously, that this was always a possibility, and I've seen signs that hint at it, but I've been trying to ignore it so far. That worry is going to be circling in the back of my mind until I hopefully become a sorcerer, and gain the ability to open portals. Then, I can travel around, looking for answers.
Turning to Wu Cai, I see him waiting patiently, "It worked." I smile at him, hoping my acting ability keeps my worries hidden from him, "I found out why her Chi was different." I pause, building anticipation. Wu Cai stares at with sharp eyes, prodding me for the answer, "She's a mutant." As he looks at me blankly, not knowing what I mean, a voice sounds from the entrance,
"Are you sure?" Looking over my shoulder, I find Thena standing in the doorway, a peculiar look on her face. After I nod at her, confirming my findings, she seems to get lost in thought. Suddenly, she brings a hand to her forehead and frowns, golden lines starting to flash on her face. For a moment, I don't understand what I'm seeing, before horror grips me.
Whipping my head to Wu Cai, I shout at him, urgency in my voice, "Go and get Gilgamesh, now!" As Wu Cai startles, I hear movement from the bed behind me, but ignore it. Seeing the serious look on my face, Wu Cai gets up and sprints past Thena, who's started muttering to herself. The danger that an uncontrollable Thena poses to me and Jing Huo is extreme, but I need to move her away from the child. I shoot to my feet and sprint to Thena, grabbing her round her midsection and hoisting her onto my shoulder.
With her in my hold, I charge out of the house, moving faster than I thought myself possible of, trying to put as much distance as I can between us and the girl. I get around one hundred meters away in about five seconds, then throw Thena off my shoulder and onto the ground. I mount her with urgency, my knees on either side of her, and cup my hands on her cheeks. 'I hope this works.' I think to myself, as I begin to try and connect to her for a Spirit Read.
Part of my mind flows from me and into Thena through my hands, where it gets lost in her golden, cosmic energy. Concentrating, I struggle to gather it, then try again. This time, I feel the connection form, but her energy seems to retaliate, attacking my body and mind. It lashes out at my hands, severely burning my palms, while my spirit is assaulted by sharp, white flashes of pain. Grunting, I lean on my pain resistance to push through and carry on.
I draw my Chi out through my hands, leading it along the connection and into her spirit, then begin Healing. The golden lines of her face flash the green of my Chi, as Thena's eyelids snap open, revealing her completely white eyes. She starts to scream wordlessly at me and begins thrash, almost throwing me off, but I use hook my legs around her, and use what leverage I have to stay atop her. Golden light starts to flash from her hands, making my eyes go wide, as she form two daggers.
Sharp, burning pains appear in my sides, drawing out my breath with a gasp. Gritting my teeth, I push as much of my Chi into her as I can, causing green lines to flow down from where I'm touching her, occupying the circular symbols that run under her skin. I watch with bloodshot eyes as my Chi moves into her arms and into her hands, somehow causing her weapons to disappear.
I pant with sharp breaths while Thena reaches up and grips my head, as I hear the rush of feet behind me. Gilgamesh appears in my vision just as she starts to squeeze, gripping her arms and holding them down with his superior strength.
She starts to starts buck as my Chi works down her to her feet, where it flares brightly. My Chi slips out of my control and suddenly reverses, quickly receding and gathering in her head. The green, glowing lines of energy on her face flash briefly, resulting in Thena freezing, then going limp. The Chi starts to slowly flow back into me and circulate out of my control, then centres on my Middle Dantian, before releasing, moving back to its normal state.
I fall sideways off Thena as Gilgamesh checks on her, landing on my back, my blood pooling beneath me. I try to gather my Chi to heal myself, but it keeps slipping out of my control. As I feel panic start to set in, Wu Cai rushes to me, his hands glowing with his own, orange Chi, and begins healing me. While he focuses on that, I look to Gilgamesh, and begin to speak, my voice raspy, "How is she?" I question him. He turns away from Thena and looks at me in concern, but nods.
"What happened? Wu Cai told me you sent him to get me, then we saw you trying to heal Thena." He asks. I ignore the feeling of my flesh knitting back together as I look at him, my face full of seriousness, and answer, my voice grace, "Mahd Wy'ry." Gilgamesh stills, then his eyes go wide and his head snaps to look at Thena, his greatest friend. His face his displays a deep sadness as he reaches down to stroke her hair. He keeps his eyes on Thena as he asks, "You're certain?" His tone holds no accusation as he makes sure.
"I recognised the symptoms... I'm sorry." I sincerely apologise to him.
Mahd Wy'ry is a dementia like degeneration that afflicts Eternals when the memory reset that Arishem uses on them loses its effect, leading them to recall their missing memories when they're triggered by something. The memories cause the Eternal to confuse where they are in time, and can make them enter a dissociative state where they cannot differentiate between their current life and those they forgot. While in this state, the Eternal will lash out and attack anything in their vicinity.
The only way to alleviate it is to completely erase their memories, robbing them of their identity and history. It's essentially a death sentence.
Wu Cai taps me on my shoulder to get my attention, then waves his hands at me, "...Done." I look down at my stomach, and poke my healed fingers through the holes in my top, feeling nothing but smooth skin. I start to sit up, causing Wu Cai to reach out and support me, where I lean on his crouched form. I look over at Gilgamesh, who's still staring at Thena, "I did what I could." I promise, "I'm not sure how much I helped her, so we'll have to wait until she wakes up."
He doesn't respond, but I know he understands my meaning. Standing with help from Wu Cai, I leave the two Eternals and go and check on Jing Huo. Entering her home, I find her sitting on her bed, knife held in a shaking hand. Once she sees me, she lowers the knife and climbs down, then runs to me, wrapping her arms around my newly healed stomach. Patting her head, I turn to Wu Cai, "I need to sleep, can you watch those two out there?" He nods, and looks at Jing Huo, who's peeking at him.
He smiles at her, but she doesn't respond, causing him to sigh then step outside. Looking down at the now orphaned girl, I speak to her, keeping my voice soft, "I'm sorry for the shouting earlier, I hope I didn't scare you." She shakes her head into me, "Are you still sleepy?" This time, she nods. Leading her over to her bed, I lay her down and pull the covers over her, then sit down on the floor next to her, leaning against the wall.
Curling up, a small chuckle slips from my lips, my position reminding me of my time in the cave. I tell Jing Huo to get some sleep, then start to close my eyes, thinking to myself,
This day has gone on too long.