Afterlife – Elements of the Black Light

The following story is fictional. Images serve as means of expression and are created with DALL-E 2 for which I paid. I wrote it in a rush as I had a sudden shift in priorities and a lot of work to do at my job. I finished it at the airport and airplane that I was traveling with. I hope you will like it and understand it. In the future, I will translate my writings into my own native language, Romanian, as I have been advised by someone dear to do. With this, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, may your wishes come true and the Light guide you to new heights!

Continuation from Afterlife – The Dark Star:

“Your next challenge awaits you, even if you can take shape into something that may have wings, the Light within you does not have them yet. It is time that you grow those wings and take flight upon new reaches. A new element awaits you. Go and search now for The Light’s Wings, Tor-Nihil,” says the Dark Star.

“The Light’s Wings, does this mean I can levitate just like Eos?” you ask the Dark Star

“Indeed. For now, you can take the form of your beings from your own reality. This can be even for the ones that exist and the ones that do not exist anymore in your realm.”

“Am I limited only to the beings that exist in my world?” you ask the Dark Star.

“No, it is not a general rule. You are mostly limited by the knowledge you have now. Some souls can take the shape of something that does not exist in their world because they have the knowledge for this. You can understand where I point the limit.”

“So I am limited only by knowledge. Why does vision doesn’t play a role in this?” you ask the Dark Star.”

“This should be a common limit that you encountered in your world. But under certain conditions, you can break it. In the passing of history, or time itself, your kind adapted to whatever they encountered even if the start did not resemble the normality that followed. After they accommodated themselves to what seemed unreal, after they unknowingly or knowingly accepted what it was to accept, this became a new reality.”

“How can this limit you tell me about be surpassed? I tend to believe that my kind has vision and created enough that is way over our reality,” you tell the Dark Star.

“It is true what you say, and not only what is material matters. Something that is unreal or seems unreal can still shape the few or many. What is hidden behind them and the emotions that they offer are the ones moving your world to greater heights.”

“What can you tell me about the fact that we don’t lose our memory after we pass from our own world? Eos told me that our memories reside in the Light, but it is hard to comprehend,” you point out to the Dark Star.

“It is hard to comprehend because it seems unreal. When you are in the reality of what you call the ‘living’, whatever you see and whatever you feel remains in the Light that is inside you already. It means that what you see with the living eyes, we see also. With the creation of genes, we created a structure that could be maintained and help in evolution being interchangeable. What you feel is transmitted to the Light also. At the moment of your passing, when there is only this Light that you are made of remains, everything from your world is being brought here together with your new being and mind.”

“I understand I think, so we were never alone, the Light inside us sees what we do also,” you tell the Dark Star.

“Indeed young soul, nobody is ever alone as long as we exist. But we can be felt in one way or another.”

“I just wonder what can be done with this information. In my world, there are many things that can cloud a vision,” you tell the Dark Star.

“Your kind survived and evolved even with a blindfold. I know you wish to maybe free them, but as I told you before, freedom has its limits. It is here where you surpass those boundaries, and it is not time now to pass these boundaries in your past reality.”

“Alright, I don’t quite think this way, but I can understand for now. I wanted to tell you that after bonding with Rakar, I had a vision of a human, and a dark mist came after him,” you tell the Dark Star.

“Dark mist…you have seen something that from time immemorial does not exist anymore in our realm. Visions come with different meanings sometimes, hidden ones. We believe that they are a link between our Light and the Maker itself. I don’t know about the human but I know there are no mists that should concern you. It is long gone and it will never come back.”

“I hope so, just the sight of it was intimidating, and it seemed very powerful. What can you tell me about the next element, Tor-Nihil?” you ask the Dark Star.

“If freedom has a limit, our Light’s Wings always tried to counter it. If your kind in the past believed that the sky is the limit, and now the space itself or the end of the universe, for Tor-Nihil not even reality has a limit.”

“Seems like he is a free spirit. Maybe he can give me a sense of what freedom is and the limit of it. On my way to Rakar, I have met also the Arakali or the Shapeless. Will I meet more entities?” you ask the Dark Star.

“Maybe you will, Andes is teeming with ‘life’. You understand the fact that every being from the known universe comes here at some point.”

“During my life, my kind was limited only to the life that was in my world. We have not yet uncovered what is in the universe,” you tell the Dark Star.

“What if I tell you that in the reaches of the universe, there are others resembling just your kind? Humans just as you were before. You may have thought during your life that your kind is unique, but evolution has many forms, some of them resembling what you have in your world, and some of them distinct. In the vastity that we have created in your reality, don’t tell me that you consider yourself alone. Where you are here there is no limit, and you must open your mind more. Did you ever think that the matter you are made of in your past reality is the manifestation of the Light itself that you are now?”

“Never did I imagine this. I will try more then. Thank you again for all these insights, they help me adapt more quickly at least,” you tell the Dark Star.

“You are welcome, young soul. It is time you go and reach Tor-Nihil, may your journey show you more lessons.”

You turn to Eos, who already opened a rift leading you outside.

“After you, young soul,” says Eos.

You reach the ground again from the tower and you look at the rays of the Obelisks:

“So Rakar was towards the south-west, now we will go south-east,” you point out to Eos.

“Indeed young soul, the land where Tor-Nihil delves is in the direction you mentioned, once we reach the Cubic Mountains.”

As Eos speaks, fragments of Light seem to appear and they get close to you, almost covering a part of your light-form.

“What is this? They seem to have a shape but I don’t really distinguish it because of the glow,” you tell Eos while trying to observe.

“These are not normal fragments of Light. In your world, I think you call them insects.”

“Insects? Do they come here also? And why do they come after me?” you ask Eos surprised.

“Every being that had a ‘life’ come here, young soul. They sense the bonding you have with Rakar, and they cherish it. They come in all shapes and dimensions. It seems that these little ones like you because of the Light you carry within from our Shifter of Souls.”

“We should start flying to these ‘Cubic Mountains’ you are telling me about,” you tell Eos.

“Very well, I really wonder what you will turn yourself into now…”

You start thinking of an eagle, and your form changes slowly and glimmers. Unfortunately, you end up in a smaller version of what you visualized.

“An….house sparrow? Or what is this?” you say a bit angry while doing tiny jumps around Eos.

“Seems that at least you can fly. Maybe I will show you a trick on your next try. Let’s go.” says Eos while levitating higher.

The Cubic Mountains

You start moving towards the Cubic Mountains where you will meet the Light’s Wings. On your way there you can’t help but spot more entities, some having the shape of something imaginative that maybe you have seen while you lived in your past life as creations of the human mind.

“These entities resemble something I have seen in the fiction of my world, do they exist here?” you ask Eos.

“Sometimes imagination has a unique way of creating. In some cases, it is just another reality from the universe that is manifested.”

The landscape changes, as you see what seems stone of cubic form that signals you are close to the destination. You spot as you fly an intermittent glow from the ground. You fly down to the ground and as you approach it, you see it has a square shape and you touch it, words inside it taking form.

“The peak of evolution…it seems to be so simplistic but the information within it doesn’t resemble that level, the one here, it is above it,” you tell Eos.

“Think of your life as a gateway to this peak. It is unreachable through ‘life’ as the capacity you had then forbade it. Through what you call ‘death’ the gift of realizing all these facts takes form for you now.”

“In my time being alive, I cherished life and I did not want to end. I still do and I wish this peak could be reached while being in that reality,” you tell Eos.

“While ‘death’ offers new visions, to run after it does not mean you will reach this peak. Life is a gateway but also a temporal point where you stop to learn and prepare for what is here. In the end, having an open mind that can stumble across many different probabilities and embrace them plays a crucial role.”

You spot in the distance something massive, the Cubic Mountains, you approach the beginning of it and see that there are cubic shapes as an extension of the mountain itself that go until the very peak. You turn to Eos:

“I think we have arrived, what do I must do now?” you ask Eos.

“It is simple, you must climb it.”

“What?” you ask Eos again.

“You must climb it to reach its peak. Tor-Nihil is at the very top of the Cubic Mountains. Remember not to use any flight form, it is part of the trial itself. If you use it, you will probably be brought down.”

“And how do I climb it? There is nothing to grab and the distance in my current shape cannot reach,” you explain to Eos.

“You have the bond with Rakar, use it to take a new shape that can complete this task, it is time I show you the new trick also.”

“Sure, what is the new trick?” you ask Eos.

“Have you ever tried a hand sign?”

“A hand sign?” you look confused at Eos.

“Yes. All you need is the tip of your finger. Think at the extension of your body as a way to manifest actions given by your mind. With it, you materialize reality. Now, the extension of the form of Light you are now can do the same thing to an extent but it follows the same logic. All you need is the help of the elements to achieve that.”

“I think I understand, so what hand sign should I make?” you ask Eos.

“Remember the form of Rakar for example? That of a rectangle with pointy ends. Make his form with both hands and focus on the power, think about the form you need to achieve.”

You listen to Eos and start focusing, both of your hands making the rectangle shape with pointy ends. You can feel a surge and a vibration and you look at the horns of Eos. You find resemblance from your own world and start changing shape with the help of your own thoughts:

“You transformed into a bharal? Seems like my horns are good at something at least.”

“Yes, I think that I can climb more easily now and jump from one cube to another. I will start, but what will you do?” you ask Eos.

“I will just observe and come to the top once you reach.”

“Well at least it is easy for one of us…” you sight at Eos.

“You will do just fine. Let us begin.”

You approach the first cube and jump on it. From it, you do the same thing and jump to another. It seems for you pretty simple in this form. You reach almost a quarter of your trial. From one cube you reach another and when you make your next jump and land, the cube retracts back into the mountain more quickly than you could expect and react. You start falling and Eos is down waiting for you again:

“Seems like you got tricked a bit, next time you should react faster, if I were you the trial would have been completed by now.”

“I did not expect this, I will start again until I reach the top,” you tell Eos.

“That’s one way to say it, young soul.”

You start climbing again trying to jump from cube to cube as fast as you can. You pass the half of the trial and you are way above Eos as he starts levitating towards you, keeping his sight on you. You land on a cube that does not retract, but the ones in front begin to erratically move from up to down, from left to right. You understand that this time you’re timing will count. You are close to the top and you can see the Light pulsating from above. You jump on a cube but all of a sudden from moving right, the cube abruptly moves above at high speed and stops, projecting you upwards. You hit a cube that did not retract and you start falling until you land on a nearby cubic form.

“This is too unpredictable for me, I want to pass this trial but it seems impossible,” you tell Eos.

“Never forget that even unpredictability has its limits, once you predict the move all that is left is what you learned from Rakar.”

“I will try one more time then,” you tell Eos.

You start jumping as you reach again that spot. You understand that once you land on a cube there is no telling what move it will make. You jump on the cube that threw you above but now it is going down, it stops and lifts itself again, but this time you predict the move and jump from it on a nearby cube. It starts retracting but you jump on the one above and from here there is nowhere to go anymore. The distance between the cube you are on and the ledge you must reach is too much. You understand that you will fall again and you lost the trial. You change back to your normal shape and Eos is watching you.

“Seems like you are left out of options, how will you reach the top and win your freedom?”

“I have no idea, I am lucky that I am still on it and it does not move.” you point out to Eos.

The cube starts shaking as you usher your words:

“Well it seems you must go down again with me Eos, will you still wait for me until I reach the top?”

“Hello, young soul, seems like you have a problem here.” says the voice of Rakar inside your mind.

“I am stuck and this cube will soon make me fall off, any fast ideas please?”

“Sometimes in order to feel the freedom you must put your life on the line for it, just as you take a leap of fate. Don’t wait for the cube to retract, make the decisive move yourself, now or never.”

You stop thinking for a moment, while the cube is trembling and decide to put your trust and faith in Rakar and yourself, you do not look anywhere but in front of you, you stop looking for a way out of this mess. All that there is to do is take the leap and feel the freedom. You lean backward and jump from the cube. You start falling, but to your surprise, one cube appears and you land on it. It starts moving slowly upwards until you reach the very ledge that you wanted, and Eos is there waiting.

“Seems that I unexpectedly made it to the top,” you tell Eos surprised.

The Light’s Wings

“All that was needed was a bit of help from me and Rakar, but mostly the faith in yourself and not giving up brought you above. It is time to meet Tor-Nihil.”

You start moving towards the Light, and in front of your sight you can see what seems to be a square shape, different from Rakar but you can sense a power emanating from it, and he is not alone. In front of him, you see a human-shaped entity just like you, the only difference is that light takes a form on his back, that of ethereal wings.

“….Aberon still does not cooperate well.” says the entity.

“We should stop for a bit, our visitor arrived, we should greet him.” says the square-shaped entity.

“You must be Tor-Nihil, I have come to bond with your Light and have the ability to fly, the Dark Star sent me here. But who is with you?” you ask the Element.

“Let me introduce myself, I am Raion, and I am part of the Akash, we are the guardians of Tor-Nihil, The Light’s Wings.” says the entity with ethereal wings.

“You look like a human just like me, except you have the wings, did you have them from the beginning?” you ask Raion

“You may consider that your kind may be the only beings in the universe with this resemblance, but this is because they don’t understand yet evolution in the vastness of the universe, the wings are granted by the Light both in life by our own evolution and after what you call “death”. My kind exists, but in another part of the universe.” tells you Raion

“Why did my kind never reach other beings of the universe themselves I wonder…” you tell Raion.

“As you can understand in the universe there are differences and some things that are common. Your kind is renowned for choosing violence first at this point of evolution for small differences that their mind cannot comprehend instantly. It would be rather good to adapt peacefully and accept more easily, then they will be the ones that others will look for in the vastity of the universe. They should understand also that choosing to cooperate is wiser than bringing the war to those who can be more advanced or prey to those who are weaker.” says Raion

“I know this and I wish that this can change, I know what happened before during my life. Waging war with something from outer space while we still wage war between ourselves…but I know that this can change somehow.”

“Maybe all this will happen in due time, but until then losses are meant to happen, you just need to accept this. If they wish for freedom, they should try and surpass all limits and the emotions they bring, to resist and endure,” says Raion.

“Tor-Nihil, I have been told that you are the Element of Freedom. Does peace exist within freedom?” you ask Tor-Nihil.

“There are stages that you need to surpass if you want to reach for freedom. It is not allowed to free your kind, but it is allowed to free yourself at this point where you are. Your kind still needs to fight for that freedom, if that is the only way they can acquire it at this point.” says Tor-Nihil.

“Are you ready to make a bond with him? You old box”. says Rakar from within you

“Ah I see you tamed the monkey, very good, did you give him a banana?” says Tor-Nihil slightly amused.

“Do I need to pass any trial for this bond? Or may I have my freedom?” you ask the Light’s Wings.

“You have passed your trial by reaching here. You let go of all the frustration that it brought when you could not reach. Your leap of fate told it. This was a stage of freedom, to stop and just let go and to be at peace when you do it. You used something from your own world as a clever way to adapt to the fact that flying here was prohibited by the rules of the trial. I suppose I can grant you the bond you seek, and be more close to that old monkey.”

“And this was all?” you ask Tor-Nihil.

“Not quite, you will need to make the next step forward and go for my sibling, Suron, The Phasing Rift. Also, you must use the power of the bond to fly towards it, he is relatively close, and you can see the Light of the obelisk pointing toward him from here.”

“So north-east, very well. Let’s start the bonding,” you say to Tor-Nihil.

“Approach me then, young soul, and let your wings manifest.”

You get close to Tor-Nihil, and with a simple touch just like with Rakar, you feel a surge of power inside your form. You feel just as vibrations that are high resonate with you. You feel something extending from your back, and after a moment you fade out only to wake up in complete black and darkness, nothing in front of you but what seems to be a mirror. You walk across the space only your own Light shining.

“Maybe I can light a bit more this place with a shockwave,” you tell yourself.

You focus and release a shockwave of light that stops like hitting a wall but you can understand the shape of the space you are in. The more you release the more you understand that you are in a square space.

“Interesting, it seems I am trapped here with this mirror, but why a square?” you ask yourself.

You start approaching the mirror, from a distance, it does not show any reflection. As you get closer a misty shape can be seen, and you ask yourself if maybe this is your own reflection. You are now close enough, and from the misty shape a human appears, the same one you saw before in your first vision.

“You have won your freedom. But when will I be free also?” asks the human.

“I wish I could grant it to you, but for now you will have to wait for when your moment will come,” you tell back to the human.

“You will escape this box while I will remain here, waiting for the moment you told me, and this is because I have no other choice.”

“Did you ever think of letting go?” you ask the human.

“I will not let go without a fight, just remember that you and I are the same.”

The mirror suddenly cracks in half, from up to down, and the image with the human also. He is still looking at you, but both the half staring differently. You wake up with Raion at your side holding you.

“It seems that this effect persists for you and you will still have visions from every element you may bond with, this may be an after-effect of the bonding itself. What did you see?” asks Raion.

“The same human, he told me that I won my freedom, but he is still there in the dark.” you describe to Raion.

“Maybe you will find out what this is about in the end,” says Eos.

“Maybe the Maker is talking with you, young soul, in a way you don’t understand yet fully. It is time you get up and spread your wings. You have to fly to Suron, I will stay here with Raion and continue our discussion from before you came.”

“Except flying what kind of abilities do you have?” you ask Tor-Nihil.

“In a very simplistic manner, I only need this, but if it is needed, I have plenty. Let’s not talk about this right now, you have enough to learn and you will have all Eternity to discover all the potential that can be achieved if you wish for it.”

“Alright, I will start focusing and see what happens,” you say while using both hands in a square shape, focusing on it.

You feel again the extension from your back, and within a short time, you spread your wings, ethereal ones, with a different pattern than Raion, the moment they emerge you break the square sign, as a symbol of your freedom.

“It is time we lift off, remember that your wings are not permanent like on Raion, you have a limited time to use them until you achieve your potential. What we have until now should be enough to go meet the Phasing Rift,” says Eos.

“Do I fly using my imagination again?” you ask Eos.

“This time you need to feel those extensions as being part of you, and make them act accordingly under your will, look above, and just wish you could reach.”

You do as Eos told you and easily but steadily you start lifting from the ground. It does not take that much to reach what should be the sky and to move forward together with Eos.

“This is fun, but strange least to say.” you point out to Eos.

“Things are not that complicated once you understand the logic of them, you just need to adapt to this reality.”

“Speaking of reality, the title that Suron carries must be related to it,” you tell Eos.

“Indeed, some call him the Element of Illusions while others call him the Element of Shaping. He is a part of this reality but he can transgress it easily. If you remember, the Dark Star told you at the beginning that not even reality is a limit for Tor-Nihil. This is because their bond as siblings is the strongest of all the elements. This is why Tor-Nihil sent you directly to Suron without going back to the Dark Star.”

“I understand, I will continue bonding with all the elements, having all these abilities is rather fun once you get used to the idea,” you tell Eos.

The landscape changes, are you are now seeing in front of you only energy, it is almost fluid, just like water.

“What is this place? Is this the sea?” you ask Eos.

“Yes, the Sea of Light, Suron is nearby on his island.”

“He lives on an island? I presume it is created by him, what does this Sea of Light have so special?”

While saying these, you see shapes just like dolphins jumping from the sea.

“So it is home for the species that are adapted to underwater life, but there is no oxygen here, why do they need to live in the Sea of Light?” you ask Eos.

The Light nourishes them while keeping them in the element predestined in the past life. We are approaching the Elusive Island.”

“I do not see any island nearby, what are you talking about?” you ask Eos.

The Elusive Island

It does not take long until without knowing but feeling, you pass a barrier and in front of you, the island is unveiling. You reach the ground, you can feel the wings won’t last for long.

“Looks like I would have to shape into a bird again,” you tell Eos.

“Let’s just take a walk, I don’t really prefer levitating so much all the time.”

You start walking and you can see that what should be the sand of the island is made of particles of Light, if you could feel something, it would be pleasant to walk on it, but all that remains is for you to comprehend in an imaginative way. What should be the palm of the island has the leaves in an oval shape, moving and touching one another, as life itself is manifested in another way than you can recall in your past reality. You enter through the palms and it does not take long until you spot an entity that seems to be more tall than you, with its arms and legs somewhat more long.

“Another entity, I wonder what it can do?” you ask yourself.

The entity crosses a palm but then it disappears, you think at first that it remained there covered by the shape of that palm. It does not take long to reach and you see nothing, it just vanished.

“What was that? Where is the entity?” you ask Eos.

“They go under the name of Phasers, they are entities that can go in an in-between dimension. As you can understand from your reality and your passing, the reality is one when you encapsulate at its full capacity. There are some parts that you cannot see only until a certain point, it is the same here, they vanish, but they still exist with us.”

You continue walking with Eos and the sand continues to have the same particles on what should be the ground. Yet you sense something somehow due to the fact that Rakar’s Light is with you. You are not alone. You start hearing some sort of chuckles from within the palm forest.

“We are not alone, can you sense it too?” you ask Eos.

“Yes, but we cannot see it yet, we are the ones being watched.”

You spot a glimmer of Light near you as you continue walking being conscious you are followed. You approach and you see an oval-shaped light that expands to the touch, you understand it also contains a message:

As soon as the object closes, and goes down, two small entities appear. You observe that they have the body of a child but the head is a bit larger with its back extending a bit.

“Hello!” exclaims the two small entities at the same time while looking upwards at you.

“Hello, nice to meet you, what are your names?” you ask softly because you believe they are children.

I am Yuusei.” says the entity from the right.

I am Yushin.” says the entity from the left.

“You must be siblings, I can distinguish you only by voice, a boy and a girl. What are two children doing here?” you tell to Yuusei and Yushin.

“Gender?” says the boy, Yuusei looking at the girl, Yushin.

“Children?” says Yushin as they begin to chuckle.

“You must be a human, and a dummy one, we as entities are genderless,” says Yuusei.

“And ageless, our voice is the manifest of Light we are made,” says Yushin.

“Have you come to meet Suron?” asks Yuusei.

“Yes, we are here to meet and bond with Suron. I need to learn to open rifts it seems like my guide here, Eos,” you tell the two small entities.

“Cool power right? You will learn in time if you manage to bond with him that opening rifts is not the only thing you can do. That if you manage to bond with him in the first place.” says Yushin.

“We know where he is, maybe we can get you to him if you will play a game with us,” says Yuusei.

“What kind of game?” you ask the two entities.

“A game of both hide and seek and tag. We will phase out and you have to find us somehow,” says Yushin.

“Very well, let’s start,” you tell the two.

You position yourself in front of them, and the two completely disappear in front of your eyes. You have no idea and no clue where they went.

“What is happening? Where are they?”

After a few moments, you feel a resonance as a touch coming from behind.

“Tag you’re it!” says Yuusei as the disappears again when you turn.

“This is crazy, Rakar, what can your tracking capabilities do here?” you ask Rakar.

“Unfortunately I can detect only a mark that is in this realm not in between. My tracking capabilities have a limit unless…” says Rakar while stopping.

“You should keep quiet for now, Rakar,” says Tor-Nihil.

“Is there any form that can help me in this case?” you ask Rakar this time feeling a push coming from behind.

“Quit talking and start playing!” says Yuusei before vanishing again.

You open up your wings without continuing to talk and raise yourself above the ground. Without noticing because of the fast maneuver, you spread the particles from the ground, and the shape of what seems to be a tiny foot appears.

“Interesting…” says Eos while noticing.

“Tor-Nihil, what can I do in this situation?” you ask the Element.

“I will tell you just this, use the landscape to your advantage.”

Trying to think what he meant, you feel a sudden resonance, as Yushin appears on your shoulders, grabbing both your hands, only the wings keeping you above.

“I forgot to mention that it is not only phasing out of this realm but also attaching us to anything from this realm and appearing on them as an example, as I did now with you. Meet you down.”

Yushin goes down and vanishes, and you think about how to use the advantage of the landscape. You start thinking about the particles and a sudden idea comes into your head.

“I understand, they exist in the in-between but also in this realm, mostly as entities from my realm while I was alive. Let’s see if this will work,” you tell yourself.

You plunge down at a high speed and the landing makes the particles fly away, you can distinguish a bit of them, being both in your rear. You start spinning with your wings flopping and you create a whirlwind uncovering them completely until you reach to touch both with the wings as an extension.

“Thank you, Tor-Nihil,” you say to the Element.

“Smart move, seems like I made the right choice to bond with you,” says Tor-Nihil.

“The game is over, and you won, you touched both of us. Seems like you are not really such a dummy. It is time we go to Suron, he has been watching and I think he is curious about you”. says Yuusei.

“It seems you overcame this obstacle, young soul. Let’s head out to Suron and find out what needs to be done,” says Eos.

The Phasing Rift

You continue walking both with Eos and the two entities, Yuusei and Yushin. It does not take long until you reach a part of the island where there are no “palms” but just particles of light that make what should be the sandy ground from your past world. In the center of it, you spot a light connecting from the obelisk and it is there where Suron awaits. It has an oval shape, brimming with Light.

“I see him, let’s approach him,” you tell the others.

You approach Suron, and the particles of Light that cover the ground start vibrating, giving ripples and waves to one another.

“Suron, I come in front of you with a request. I wish to bond with you and unlock the potential that you can offer me.”

“It seems you bear the Light of Rakar and my dear Tor-Nihil. This means you have proven yourself in front of them. Let’s see if you will be worthy to bond with me.” says Suron in what seems a calm tone.

“Did you create this island?” you ask Suron.

“I created more than this island, young soul. I am a part of the creation of this realm, and I can shape even your past realm,” says Suron.

“Why we as entities can’t be seen by my kind for example?” you ask Suron.

“There is a limit within evolution, as there is a price for progress as new challenges arise. Your kind at some point in evolution will see us, as it is part of the same reality until a certain point, but that time has not come yet. I will tell you only this, sometimes what your kind believes is fiction at first turns into a reality at some point. It becomes the way they choose to live, whether singular or whole.”

“All the Elements seem so important, why did not a single one of you tell me to bow down?” you ask Suron.

“There are problems with pride indeed for the weak minds that think they know it all, but we are not part of them. With an Element, you need to negotiate and pass the challenges with the goal of learning something that would benefit you and not them. The same can go for the elements of your world, you should never bow down to them, but respect them from afar as they are part of the shell where the Light resides. They are the extension of the lifeforce that compose your world.”

“Why are you called the Element of Illusion?” you ask Suron.

“You will see in your trial, but the short answer is that reality is sometimes an illusion, forced upon others by the ones that create it. In your world, this happens also.”

“This reality is not also an illusion then?” you ask Suron.

“This reality is one with the others, the only difference is that it is more malleable. Tell me, for your kind what is the main thing that forms your reality? Is it nature? It is belief in something that is true?” asks you Suron.

“Well for some it is this, but on a whole, money dictates the life of my kind and their reality,” you tell Suron.

“A mistake that your kind evolves and revolves around it for millennia. Out of a wish to separate the strong from the weak, the smart from the less smart. But being able to have them will never make you special, only skilled in achieving them. Your kind and the reality they live in is still divided, and this is one cause for it. Maybe at some point, your kind will unite as a whole due to a collective pain or joy brought by an event, but that moment is still to come. You will see that here we do not have a form of currency, we consider it primitive.”

“What trial do I must face now?” you ask Suron.

Suron starts glimmering and out of his own shape, comes another just like him, and another. You understand he is somehow duplicating himself, and it does not take long until you are surrounded by all his duplicates.

“Let’s start, you will have to guess which is me and which is an illusion. You will see a flash of light, and then the trial starts.”

A flash of light appears that blinds you and the trial is under way. You run to the place that you presume is Suron. It is the same place that he was before, but once you reach to touch it, his shape disappears. It was an illusion.

“So that flash of light was for him to switch positions, I must think where he is now,” you tell yourself.

“You unleash your ethereal wings and start rushing, touching how many illusions you can, only to be replaced by others. You believe at this point that maybe Tor-Nihil can help.”

“Tor-Nihil, how can I find your sibling in all these illusions?”

“Hard to predict, but there is something different that only the real Suron has. Focus and see the Light, this is all I can tell you,” says Tor-Nihil.

“Focus and see the Light? I have an idea.”

You stop for a moment, and using Rakar’s shape you form a hand sign and start focusing on the tracking capabilities he offers. From all the illusions, you see only one that carries a distinct mark and a more strong glimmer of Light. You presume that he is the real Suron, but you do not let him know your intentions. You start touching the illusions from beside him, and he starts floating around more far for you.

“That’s it, it is him!” you tell yourself.

With one swoop of the wings, you charge forth at high speed. You were hoping to touch him but because you could not stop in time. It makes you collide with him, and without knowing, you enter his form, just like it would be a rift. Inside there is only a blank space made of Light that flows beside you. You start floating within as the Light surrounds you, and the bonding begins, making you fall into another vision. In the vision, it is the same place, inside Suron. You believe at first that it is real, but there is someone there with you, the same human.

“Do you have the power to change my reality?” asks you the human while looking at you from his rear.

“I wish to change it, and I wish our kind would know about this. About everything that is here,” you tell the human.

“Then stop obeying the ones that want to keep us blind. You are free. Free from your past reality and free from the chain that keeps us. Help me break the chain of our kind, let us free them.”

“Our Dark Star told me that freedom has a limit,” you tell the human.

“A limit that is being imposed, there is no limit or boundaries once you open your mind to see clearer. Be limitless.”

The vision ends and you wake up near Suron and the others. You are not anymore inside his rift, but outside, on the particles of Light that make the island you are on.

“Again a vision, just like on all the times I presume,” says Eos.

“Yes, I have seen the human again, but this time at least there was no more mist. I wonder what all of this means,” you tell Eos.

Maybe is a sign, maybe it is part of an uncertain future from all the multitudes. At some point you will find out.” says Suron.

“Thank you for this bond, I feel I have reality at my fingertips now,” you tell Suron.

“You deserve it, young soul. It is time we say farewell for now, even if I will be within you if you will seek guidance. Remember only this for your kind, we are the shapers of their reality, and whatever they will imagine, whatever they will achieve, and whatever stage of evolution they will be in, we already know of it and we set the course.” says Suron.

“It is time for departure, young soul. The Dark Star is waiting for us,” says Eos.

“Looks like there is no time to catch my breath, if I had one in the first place,” you say joking around.

“Let’s see if you can make a rift now.” says both Yuusei and Yushin.

“Very well, let me try,” you tell to everyone.

You make a hand sign from both your hands, resembling infinity and the shape of Suron itself. You start focusing and imagining how you can tear the reality just like Eos does. The tips of your fingers are glimmering. With a charged force you point your finger in front of you, and with a movement from up to down, you create a tear in the reality, ready for you to step through it. You say goodbye to the others and together with Eos you step through the rift and appear in front of the Dark Star.

“That was just so awesome, when I will be able to phase out just like Yuusei and Yushin?” you ask Eos.

“Under special conditions maybe you will, but for now master what you have, and find the patience within you until you will learn new things,” says Eos.

“I am happy to see you both back, and not only with the Light of Tor-Nihil but with that of Suron also.” says the Dark Star.

“It was an interesting journey, but we managed to return,” you tell the Dark Star.

“Tell me, young soul, did you ever feel pain in your past life?” asks you the Dark Star.

I did, and it was not nice, but it is something that everyone feels at some point.” you tell the Dark Star.

“Indeed, something that is part of life as a whole and brings new changes. Did you find any relief to the pain you felt?”

“In some cases yes, in other cases I had to live with it for a time,” you tell the Dark Star.

“Our realm may seem painless at first, but in some cases, it is not. To be stronger in the face of pain you have to experience it. It is a double-edged sword as it strengthens you, but too much of it can cut right through your soul. You need to be prepared in the face of it, and for that, our Element of Pain can help you.”

“Element of Pain?” you look surprised at the Dark Star.

“Follow the Light of the obelisks young soul. Go now, and seek out the fourth element. Let Kar-Gorgon, The Pain’s Relief, thunder through your soul.”

To be continued.