Leveling up the World

Chapter 1000: Of a Thousand Instances

Everything froze still. Instinctively, Dallion tried to reach out and shatter the yellow rectangle that remained in front of his face. Unlike every time in the past, the rectangle felt hard and solid.

That’s new, Dallion thought as the rectangle floated backwards.

“Rocket, are you okay?” he asked.

The guardian didn’t reply.

“Aqui?”

There was no response from the dragon, either.

Reaching out, Dallion grabbed hold of the yellow rectangle.

“Do your thing, Nox.” He looked at the glowing shape.

It remained completely whole. Clearly, whatever had stopped time, had only allowed him to keep moving. Another interesting fact was gravity, or rather its return. Dallion felt he was being pulled into the seat, though not in the crushing way like during launch.

That wasn’t all that had returned. Using his magic vision, he could see a thick layer of magic outside the capsule. It had spread everywhere, covering it like thick syrup. Strangely enough, that’s where it stopped, as if forbidden to leak inside.

That’s new. Using some of his internal magic, Dallion cast a three-circle opening spell. Eventually, the hatch swung open, revealing an endlessness of orange threads. If Dallion didn’t know better, he’d have thought he had somehow found himself close to the sun. There was no heat coming from outside, although with his spacesuit Dallion couldn’t tell for certain.

As he sat there, the hatch moved away on its own. Someone was inviting Dallion to step outside.

It’s not like you’re giving me any choice, Dallion thought, then cast a flight spell on himself and split into three instances.

Ready for anything, Dallion floated through the opening. The orange threads of magic were endless, flowing around the capsule like strands of honey. A short distance away, floating in the nothingness just like him, was a female figure wearing a glowing yellow robe. Her features appeared human, but at the same time didn’t. Long yellow hair flowed down her slender shoulders, reaching all the way to her ankles.

“Hello, Dal,” she said. “It’s nice to see you face to face at last.”

“You’re the Eighth Moon,” Dallion said, aware of the significance of his statement.

“You can call me Luna.” The woman smiled.

“Luna?”

“It’s a name you’re used to. A lot better than ‘Eighth Moon’.”

She probably was going by human naming conventions. Even so, Luna was better, indeed.

“I’m surprised you made it here.”

“You didn’t think I’d manage?” Dallion floated a few feet closer.

“No one is supposed to make it here. No awakened, at least. The girl came close, but even she just passed by. Astreza was furious, of course, but then again, he was always the most protective of me.”

Maybe the Star’s use of void matter had something to do with it, Dallion thought.

“You know why I’ve come,” Dallion quickly said, remembering that Moons could read thoughts.

“Yes. You want to become part of the world’s life again.”

“I want to become part of Eury’s life,” Dallion corrected. “I can live with no one else knowing who I am.”

“Really?” Luna seemed surprised. “Why would you?”

“Are you offering to restore everyone’s memories of me?”

“Oh, Dal.” The woman shook her head. “All that traveling and leveling up and you still haven’t realized the key element.”

Luna snapped her fingers. Part of the orange threads moved to the side, revealing the awakened world. It was a lot closer than Dallion imagined, providing a clear view of a massive city. Some might say it was the largest city in the world, and one Dallion could recognize.

“Alliance...” he whispered.

It had changed considerably, becoming a bit wider and a lot taller. The architecture style was a lot more artistic, almost as if they were approaching the equivalent of the human Renaissance.

“Didn’t you ever wonder why you had memories of the time before your awakening?” Luna asked.

“Because I took the consciousness of someone who was born there,” he replied without a moment’s thought.

“Two Dallions?” Luna tilted her head. “Physically identical and sharing the same name? Or do you think that every person in the seven worlds has a copy here? The truth is that there was just you. Everyone else was nothing more than a memory.”

“There never was a Dallion in the awakened world?” How could that be? Dallion could clearly remember his childhood—his non-Earthly childhood. His crush on Gloria, him being bullied by Veil and others... him growing up along with his parents, and later his brother Linner. All that had to be real.

“There only ever was one Dallion.” The woman pointed at him. “You. After your talk with Astreza, when you broke through your first barrier, you brought your past along with you.” She paused. “Actually, no. That’s not correct. A past was created for you based on your aspirations, fears, and shortcomings.”

My entire past was just a memory?

“The past is always just memories—memories for the world. The things that happened before your awakening actually happened; they were just added after the fact. If one were to destroy a castle in their past, a castle would be destroyed to accommodate, at which point the memory would become reality.”

“But only as long as I’m within the realm,” Dallion said bitterly.

“Or after it as well. The guardians of the world make that choice. Just as they create memories for people upon entering, they might choose to erase them after they leave. That’s what rules are for.”

“If I’d gotten a coin for each time someone said that, I’d be a very rich man.”

“You are a very rich man, Vihrogon,” the other smiled. “If you wanted, you could be living in a palace.”

“My place is here,” the dryad laughed. “After everything, I’ve deserved a bit of calm and quiet. And what about you, Dal? No desire to seek out the Architect? That sounds like something you’d like.”

Dallion smiled. He’d only been back a few days, and his own friend never even knew he was gone. It was better that way, of course. Dallion didn’t want to take on the role of Architect, but he didn’t want to remain forgotten forever. So, a new world memory was created.

“I heard Eury’s been hanging out here. Has she?”

“Funny thing.” The dryad smiled. “She asked me the same thing as well. Anything I should know about?”

“If there was anything to tell, you’d be the last person I’d share it with.” Dallion shook his head.

“That hurt. And after all the times I saved your life.”

“All the times you couldn’t keep your mouth shut, you mean.” Dallion took another gulp from the flask, then tossed it back. “Seriously, when was she here?” Just for good measure, Dallion added a subtle nudge using his music skills.

“You’re no fun. She’s on top of some tree nearby.” Vihrogon put the flask away. “Watching the sunset. She’ll probably be back in an hour or so. You can wait.”

“I prefer to go and find her.”

“Of course you would. Oh, your brother became a hunter’s apprentice. He told me not to tell you, but...”

“And you wonder why I don’t share secrets with you anymore.”

Dallion knew exactly what had happened, of course. His brother had remained non-awakened, yet it was that quality of his that made him ideal for tracking. As long as he was careful, magical animals were unable to sense him. Not even Dallion knew the nature of this unusual gift, but had made sure that a hunter would give him the same chance that Eury had given him at the time.

“Tell her to catch some food. Lots of people have been passing through, so I could use the goods.”

With a single wave, Dallion left the tavern. The moment he did, he instantly leaped up into the air, casting a flight spell in the process. Within moments he emerged above the crowns of the trees of the thousand-foot forest and burst into a hundred instances.

Each looked in a different direction, searching for the magic threads of a gorgon. Then he found it.

“Eury,” Dallion whispered. All but one of his instances collapsed. Feeling his pulse quicken, Dallion darted in the air, stopping a few feet from the gorgon.

Euryale remained as she was, facing the setting sun. The snakes on her head moved about gently. Dallion knew perfectly well that she had seen him; he also knew that it was up to him to make the first move.

“I could change it for you,” he said, taking a seat in the air next to her. “The color of the sunset, I mean.”

“It’s fine as it is,” Eury replied.

Dallion nodded. It had been so long since they’d been apart—far longer for her than for him—and yet now that they were together, none felt the need to say anything. It was as if they had always been together, just not in the same physical space.

“You changed the world’s history,” she said. “It seems I’m no longer the wife of the Architect.”

“You’ll always be my wife.” He took hold of her hand. “People don’t need to know the rest.”

The gorgon smiled.

“Your grandmother moved back to Dherma. She’s taken over matters there.”

“As expected. I’ll go see her. I promised Kraisten to tell her a few words for him.”

And you always keep your promises, Dallion heard Eury’s thoughts.

“How was it there?” she asked. “I saw glimpses, but it seemed too strange.”

“It is strange. Very, very strange and boring.”

She’d find it interesting. Despite everything, awakened had made use of their skills and humanity’s technology to create something this world never would. Should they go there? She’d probably like that, although being a gorgon in a world of mortals wasn’t a good idea.

“Are you able to show me more?” she asked. “For some reason, I feel I miss it.”

The question had caught Dallion by surprise. Upon returning, he had made sure to weave himself into the memory of the world in such a way as to know exactly what the consequences would be. And still, he hadn’t foreseen this reaction.

Even now, the aria shared their thoughts. Just as Dallion had spent months trying to return to the awakened world for Eury, the gorgon has spent years wanting to go to Earth for him. In that time, she had grown both curious and accustomed to the world to such a degree that she felt it closer than the awakened world.

“Miss it...” Dallion repeated, placing his other hand on Euryale’s head.

The snakes moved a bit, unused to the sensation, then quickly relaxed.

“You won’t miss it,” Dallion concentrated.

MEMORY FORGING INITIATED

Realities of two worlds merged in one like a giant tree, leaving Dallion with the power to prune them. Faster than human thought, his fingers moved throughout the leaves, peeling off leaves and branches only to reattach them elsewhere. Unseen and unfelt by anyone, a new history was being sculpted, one that everyone would remember moments from now. There would be no sadness or regret, only possibilities.

Plucking the final leaf, Dallion removed his hand from Euryale’s head. The moment he did, locks of golden-brown hair fell down, covering the rest of her head.

Eury opened the eyes on her face, looking down at her hands: human hands, with the same pinkish complexion that Dallion had. Her panoramic sight hadn’t been impaired, but she could no longer consider herself a gorgon, at least temporarily. But most importantly, it wasn’t Dallion that had caused her to change; he had merely given her the ability to do it herself.

“You won’t miss it,” Dallion said. “Because I’ll take you there.” He embraced her tightly. From here on, not even the Moons would ever keep them separated again. “There and to every other world you want to see.”