2 The Event II - The Great Escape (1/2)
When Prince Tricko first sensed this abnormal soul, he was still very far away from it. What he found odd at first sight was that, unlike the rest of the infant souls, this soul was completely stationary.
Or, at least it WAS utterly immobile. Up until the day he finally moved past its location.
The moment prince Sylvester Tricko reached it, that infant soul immediately begin float around him in an orbital pattern. It was as if this soul had taken the prince was its sun, it's everything. So every few seconds he would see lifeless husks where the infant soul's eyes should have been, as it kept passing the front of his own face.
Occasionally the Sky Fall flame, which was merged with the soul of the prince, would erupt and devour all infant souls in an ever-increasing range. At first, it was merely ten feet. It evolved to be a few kilometers. Then, it expanded to swallow a few dozen kilometers worth of souls. Finally, over 100 kilometers worth of souls were devoured and converted into pure energy. The energy fed the nirvana flame and sublimated Prince Tricko's soul.
Sylvester had no idea how many poor souls he had exterminated, but he was unconcerned with this. Was their current fate much better than obliteration?
His soul light turned from forest green to baby blue. Prince Tricko, however, had no control over these eruptions of the sky fall flame at first. It was involuntary. Perhaps it was the nirvana flame's own survival instinct, or maybe it was his own. The line that separated his spiritual awareness and the fire was obscured. If before this the two could be considered close to merging, then they had now finally fused completely.
However, despite the constant eruption of power, the soul who was treating him as the center of its universe remained unaffected. It was as if it could never be destroyed, or the Sky Fall flame simply had no effect on its divine soul. Every time the blaze erupted Sylvester felt a profound aura of dignity from the orbiting infant soul. In fact, the more the sky fall flame erupted, the more this parasitic infant soul begin to glow in golden soul light.
”Is this the so-called disaster that attracts a miracle? What's the deal with this guy? My Sky Fall Flame basically can't even sense him, it's like he doesn't exist. The only other existence this flame does not react too is my mother. Totally weird.” Thought the wandering soul of Sylvester.
He had recently spent his days incinerating and devouring other souls, plundering all that remains of them. Many fragmented memories and thoughts were burned away as well as he assimilated the purest soul force he had ever known into his own soul.
”Curious, curious…” said Sylvester, ”Come on little guy. Is it not a bit rude to just sleep and eat? At least wake up once for this prince, it's so boring here.”
It felt like more and more eons had passed. As Prince Tricko couldn't always maintain his spiritual awareness, he would frequently have to rest. Doing so allowed his mental energy to recover enough to trigger an eruption of flames. After which, he would have the power to spare. To his delight, he noticed that his soul was growing ever more powerful every time it bottomed out completely. However, whenever he cast his spiritual awareness to open his ”eyes,” the first thing he would always see is the little pale gold baby directly in front of his face!
What was with this guy?
Lately, instead of orbiting nonstop, this guy would only orbit if Sylvester's spiritual force was active. The moment it was withdrawn, the infant soul would stop moving. However, once it was active again, the damned thing would be right in his face!
After the tenth time it happened, Prince Tricko urged the Nirvana flame to attack to no avail. The prince was, nonetheless, excited that he was now able to move the fire with his will alone. He could even command it easily! Such prowess was a significant improvement. Due to this, he eventually calmed back down. Prince Tricko saw nothing but random souls all flowing forward into the darkness. Now and then a white light would flash as another new soul appeared.
'Where do they go? From where did they come? Why do they float so much faster than me? Why won't this one piss off!' Prince Tricko had no clue how to define his current circumstances. He never saw any new souls appearing, yet even when his nirvana flame eradicated the souls in the surrounding, then a few breathes would pass and Sylvester would eventually find himself wholly surrounded as if he had never done anything.
He felt significant resistance whenever he attempted to move. This feeling was like being held firmly in someone's hand. The most he could do was sit up with difficulty. Of course,his little buddy in orbit seemed oblivious and impervious to this rule. The prince had grown attached to this infuriating little guy. He was a real anomaly, just as the prince himself was here. It was his one an only companion in this timeless abyss.
However, after devouring countless souls and converting them instantly into pure soul power, prince Tricko could feel some pressure weighing on him. This feeling was like the room getting smaller, and the hand holding him previously begin tightening its grip. His soul light had now changed to pale blue, and he looked like an eight-year-old. Though the prince didn't know much about the workings of the soul, due to the circumstances he was able to infer that this was a good thing.
As if the soul in orbit around him was benefiting from his effort, it's golden glow was becoming ever brighter. The prince found this to be very intriguing, though he was mildly annoyed. What made this little fellow so different? This soul was beginning to give him an old and ancient feeling. It was also a bit familiar. This soul seemed unaffected by the pressure.
'Could it be that I've become too powerful for the laws of this plane to govern properly? What happens if I continue to disturb the natural order? Will I become golden as well?'
”Well whatever, I'm was willing to try anything even if it means eternal damnation or even the destruction of the realm itself! What could be worse than being one of those lifeless grey ghost babies again? Oh wait, I know! I was drifting endlessly in this river of eternal boredom!” Thinking like this, the prince didn't hesitate to make the Sky Fall Flame erupt into a massive explosion of green and black gaseous flames dancing intertwined. This time he destroyed millions upon millions of souls, as he pushed the enormous sea of fire to and fro.
Prince Tricko was not sure how this would affect the karmic wheel of his fate, but can anything be worse than having your own and possibly even your baby brother's soul banished? At any rate, these were all souls of victims destroyed by the hands of fate! His fate stolen from him! However, how could he go down without a fight now that he had another chance?
He would absorb their hope, their dreams, their essence, and he would use it to fight for survival! The only risk was reckless burning his own brother's soul to nothingness.
Such a thing was, of course, impossible. The prince wasn't worried about destroying his Xavier's soul for he believed the kid to be the embodiment of luck. There was no way he would be like the rest of these ghost babies, as he was likely the reason they had survived in some way. The prince was even less worried about his indestructible little buddy in orbit. It was as if his flame couldn't directly affect this guy at all. Less than that, it even seemed to be benefitting him!
”Fuck it. I'll burn this whole world down if I have too!” Sylvester Tricko's eyes briefly flashed with madness. He chose to risk it all! With a thought, the flames raged endlessly in all directions. The realm began to tremble slightly as a wild devouring force begin reckless ravaging this realm. The prince's soul slowly changed from a pale blue to royal blue.
After a few breaths, he was pale gold.
After an hour his soul glow began transforming into a deep golden color.
As the sky fall flames begin to recede to the wayward soul, his soul form flickered before finally resting on a shining platinum colored light.
The previously gold orbiter was now emitting a dense dark exotic glow, as a gust of ancient aura rushed out from the infant soul as his spirit form developed legs. He had evolved from ghost baby to ghost toddler but remained otherwise unchanged, and the aura then vanished as quick as it came. He soul glow returned to golden. Prince Tricko was in shock. What in the world just happened? Such powerful aura…and then nothing?
How anti-climatic was this?
”You're a dramatic one,” Sylvester watched the toddler suspiciously as he orbited endlessly.