Chapter 398: There’s A Small Problem
"How exactly do I wake up a passed out projection?" Laz asked himself as he watched the little green mad just float there. Sadly, he didn’t have an answer except to wait.
Once Zal woke up, Laz waited for him to get his mind together.
"You’re an Asura? The Asura?"
"Are there others?"
"I don’t believe so..."
"Then... yes?"
"Amazing. I never thought I would meet one."
"I’m not really one, just half of me is..."
"That’s not important. As far as I knew, all the Asura died out in the war of extinction thousands of years ago..."
"As far as you knew?"
"Well I’d never actually met one before."
"Then how did you know about the Asura? Especially if they all died out?"
"There were records in the pantheons of all of the major races. I used to enjoy reading about them when I was younger. Especially the Asura and their battles and empire that spans the stars. Or it did, at least."
This old god suddenly started coming across like some sort of teenager with delusions of fame and grandeur. Still though, it proved that he was closer to human than he was to being some out of reach being.
"Still, to see that some part of them actually survived on this planet. I honestly didn’t believe the things I read about this planet back when I was younger, but to think that it’s all true."
"What things?" Laz’s interest was sparked. Afterall, there were a lot of things that didn’t make sense these days. The chosen, the infected, bloodlines, the tree and it’s people. How were all of these things connected? And why this planet of all places?
"Uh... well. If you don’t know, I shouldn’t be the one to tell you. Sometimes knowing..."
"Is more dangerous than not knowing. Yeah, heard that one before." Laz grumbled when this was said. It was like when you were young and an adult refused to explain adult related things to you. Or they would just say that you’d understand when you are older. It’s a cop out, but there was also truth to those words as many of those things are stuff that kids wouldn’t understand.
"Anyway Laz, I’ll believe you."
"So you’ll help my master if I can get you out of here?" Laz said, now excited. This was the goal he had been given.
"Well. Yes. But..."
"But? But what? Is it impossible for me to get you out of here or something?"
"Not that young one. I will actually wake up on my own pretty soon, perhaps within the next month? Based on your standards of time measurement."
"Then that is a good thing. Right?"
"No. No it’s not. Uh... How should I explain this...." Zal hesitated as his projection walked back and forth in space.
"Just spit it out already." Laz said after a time.
"Alright. When I wake up, I won’t be able to control my body and will just start wrecking everything in sight."
"WHAT?"
"Yeah. So. The reason I am stuck down here in the first place is because I was tricked by my brother, one who I trusted. Not only did he lock me up with the chains on my feet, but he also drove the punishment stakes through my head. I’m sure you noticed those..."
"Punishment stakes? Those are a punishment?"
"Well yes. Iron cannot kill a god, but it does have a restraining effect on their power. Once driven into an individual, it blocks off the flow of energy. It was a suffering usually reserved for those who betrayed the pantheon. Normally, they would get one of the stakes pounded through their stomachs so that they would live, but in an eternally weak shell of a body that could never die nor ever get free."
"That’s... damn...."
"But my brother, in his infinite madness, decided to see if it was possible to block off my senses and therefore render me invisible to those who would try to find me if I disappeared. It worked, but it also drove me to lose all reason, or at least to be unable to control myself."
"But, you’re here, right now, with me and talking...?"
"That’s because part of me is sleeping. That part would have killed you in an instance. This part still retains my reason. But once I wake up, the insanity will take over again and I will lose whatever control I have. When that happens, you will have no chance of survival." It was kind of weird, but Laz got the impression that the projection was sad, despite the fact that it’s face didn’t change. It was kind of a weird feeling.
"Ok. So, you’ll wake up soon?" Laz was trying to see if there was something he missed.
"Yes."
"And what will happen when that happens? What will you do?"
"Go on a rampage I guess. Unless the stakes can be removed, I won’t be able to regain control of myself. And like an angry bull who sees nothing but red, I won’t be able to help myself either. I can’t predict where I will go, but any humans I meet will suffer. Or any other creatures for that matter."
"So... We need a way to remove the stakes from your body?"
"I know what you want to hear, but I’m going to have to disappoint you. The stakes were put in by a god, my brother. It will probably take a god to remove them as well. So I’m sure you have the best intentions, but this is a plan without a chance of success." From it’s voice, Laz could feel the sadness inside of it. Zal wanted to be free as much as anyone would. But he knew better than anyone that there was no way for Laz to do that.
"What about your master?" Zal asked, suddenly hopeful.
"She left me to do this job myself," Laz responded while still thinking.
"Well, perhaps you know someone close to godhood who you could ask a favor from? I myself would be a good incentive for them as helping me would be helping themselves..."
"Hate to break it to you but I’m the strongest person I know. In fact, until recently, we didn’t even know the stage above the void palace stage. The royal stages we just became aware of within the past week." Laz responded, feeling something tickle at the back of his mind but not knowing what it was.
"Void Palace? The royal stages? Well... I guess in terms of your language and culture, that does make sense. But I would love to see the reaction of some old farts hearing you calling it these names. HA. They wouldn’t be able to control themselves." The projection started laughing even while it’s face didn’t move.
"All the same. When I tried lifting those stakes before, I wasn’t able to move them. It felt like they were stuck to something which I guess was actually your flesh. It’s weird how it felt like something was pulling against me. Even trying my hardest, they just wiggled a lot."
"They wiggled?" The projection’s voice sounded surprised.
"Well. Yes. But it felt like a magnectic pull that I couldn’t break it apart from."
"That should be impossible to move them at all. They aren’t just in the ground or even my flesh. If it was just my flesh you shouldn’t be able to move it. But the fact that it’s in my skull and you could still move it..." Zal’s voice trailed off as he thought.
"Perhaps you can."
"Perhaps I can what?"
"My body will be weak after decaying underground for hundreds of years. The reason I am waking up right now is because there is finally energy on this earth again, something that was in short supply even back in my day. We gods... we liked to call ourselves that. But we didn’t start out as gods. Even back there, the energy of the earth was running out. There was a little bit if you knew where to look for it, but it wasn’t much. It had been thinning for thousands of years at that point. The reason the Pantheons were able to keep their god like powers was because the children born had to be blessed within a well of energy and then the powers had to be passed to them. This resulted in every generation of god getting weaker and weaker. And to make matters worse, the energy wasn’t compatible with our bodies most of the time so usually we would die within a couple dozen years after receiving the power. Perhaps some looked at us like we were immortals, but the truth was the person would change, only the power stayed the same."
"That seems like one fucking shitty trade off."
"It was. But for my family, we didn’t have a choice, Neither did anyone else. If the power of one pantheon fell far enough, another would come take it over. They would then steal their remaining resources and put an end to their lines. To make matters worse, we started using the humans in wars with one another to save resources, hence the many holy wars that were fought. In the end, even the final survivors lost their power. There is no defying fate it seems."
"Except for now, right?" Laz said, pointing at Zal.
"Except for now, yes. With the return of the energy, my body shall be nourished and rise from the gave. With this, I can again walk the earth as I see fit.
Laz thought about what he said and realized that without him knowing it, he had gained the answer to one of the planets greatest secrets. "If there were once gods, where did they all go?"
"But I digress. With your strength, the strength of an Asura, maybe you can pull these stakes from by head and free me, assuming you are able to advance your realm...?"
"I don’t think that will be an issue. My biggest question is, how long do I have?" Laz needed to know this as it would direct his actions from here on out.
"Based on what I sense.... five days."
"Five.... five days?" Laz was hoping for more than just a work week’s worth of time to advance realms.
"Well, I will be fully awake then. If we are talking about just me getting up? About two days at most."
The feeling inside of Laz was getting worse the more Zal spoke.
