The Platform

— Somewhere in the void

The void was a dark and mysterious place.

The many alternate planes of existence and chaotic spatial energies merged together to form mysterious and profound domains largely unknown to man. However, there were certain realms in the void that man had grown very familiar with. The hero race had long since found a way to connect with a Heavenly Truth within the void, granting prosperity to future generations for eons to come.

Whether it be the mighty warrior of fate, the Saints, or the unfathomable and mystical Sages, they both shared the zone that was created for the sake of the hero race. It was a starting place for the race against destiny.

The Platform of Destiny.

After Jody aligned with the world's fate, his consciousness was instantly transported to another space. This feeling was indescribable. Here, he felt and looked just like he did back on his 21st-century Earth, despite being able to tell that he was currently only a spirit body. This was a first for Jody. He slowly figured out that his current appearance should be that of his true soul. He was alone here, apart from the glowing twilight imp which hovered over his shoulder.

'Am I Jody Trill, the host soul; Josiah Trillwolf, the main soul; or am I somehow both? Perhaps, because I retained the memories of my previous life, my main consciousness remains fused with the host soul? So confusing. Could this be a mysterious constitution?' thought Jody as he desperately tried to comprehend his fate.

From his understanding, the main soul was the fusion of the host soul and hollow souls. In the book 'Mysterious Constitutions of the World,' it was mentioned that there were over 1,000 unique constitutions recorded by heroes in the universe since primeval times, the top 100 of which all possess mysterious and frightening potential.

Merely most of the true top constitutions were not recorded.

At any rate, Jody's situation didn't seem to match any of the unique constitutions he had read about.

'It should be that this is the form of my host soul due to me retaining my past experiences. It must be the way I can't help but view myself. Ultimately, I am already someone else. I should change my mental self-image.'

This line of thought felt the most correct to the current him. Jody had only reached this platform because he aligned with his world's fate. He now understood that doing so meant he had to accept himself as a part of the world, not treat himself as a separate entity.

Jody was currently standing on top of a hundreds of meters large golden platform, with a sizeable runic diagram shining in white atmospheric light, illuminating this zone. This diagram was difficult to see properly through the light, but it looked to depict some otherworldly winged creatures whose bodies shined like jewels.

They actually looked quite similar to the little proxy. Only, the light from the imp was so blinding that Jody had never seen it clearly.

"The Platform of Destiny..." said Jody to no one as he marveled at the scene before him.

"There's so much power here. It feels like I'm being suppressed by a force field that grows stronger with each step," thought Jody as he searched all around.

Eventually, he found nothing. As far as Jody knew, he had to meditate on the laws of this platform until a fate artifact chose him. However, Jody was unwilling to be chosen by fate. He wanted to choose his own artifact! After pondering for a few minutes, he had the idea to open his Mind's Eye and enter the high state. Upon acting on this impulse, the scene surrounding him instantly changed.

Directly in front of Jody, in the center of the platform, there now hovered eight elders in grey robes. They stood on either side of a giant and mystical-looking crystal gate, shining gold and covered in these cool mirrors. The gate looked to be made out of divine materials and released a ridiculous amount of pressure.

There was an elaborate runic inscription in the form of hieroglyphs drawn on the two doors of the gate. It looked like a story made of hieroglyphics. On the other side of the gate was still more of the destiny platform, but Jody could now vaguely sense that this entrance led to a different space. It almost felt like the gate was summoning him. 

As soon as he probed this gate with his spiritual sense, his mind shook. Jody felt something crack and break apart inside his head. The spiritual energies in the area started rushing into his spiritual body as he closed his eyes to focus on absorbing this energy with his mind's eye ability. After the power stopped flowing into him, Jody was no longer affected by the pressure. He also didn't need to maintain his high state to perceive the gate anymore.

If there were someone else here with Jody, they would notice that he now released the same level of pressure as the giant gate. In fact, he felt an intimate connection with this gate. This feeling was so strong, but Jody knew instinctively that he couldn't open this gate even if he tried. So, instead, Jody focused his attention on the mysterious elders in hooded grey robes.

They all had long grey beards and seemed to be identical, though their faces were all hidden by the endless nothingness of their hoods. The elders all just stood there, immobile and silent.

"So far, this is very different from the books," thought Jody as he stared at the hooded figures.

Nothing that had happened thus far matched his expectations, which made him feel bittersweet. Regardless of how different his experience was compared to others, he'd have to be a fool not to realize he had just gained some type of benefit. After all, other kids would never be able to enter the high state and witness this spectacle.

"Eight elders...but there should be up to ten artifacts…strange," after thinking up to here, Jody then felt a realization hit him. "Seniors, would you happen to be related to the heavenly fate artifacts?"

The elders' hoods were suddenly illuminated by two white flames, burning brightly like a pair of eyes that stared relentlessly at Jody. He felt the heavy presence of a dozen powerful souls bearing down on him with an invisible force. Despite his fear, Jody stood tall and refused to retreat from the mysterious forces.

This feeling was hard to describe in words, but if compared to his previous life, he felt like a gerbil in a small cage surrounded by all the bad kids in class. It was scary, but a cage still separated them. As it was a cage, where could he run? Suddenly, all eight elders disappeared and reappeared, standing two meters away from Jody in a tight circle.

[Prometheus Soul!] spoke the eight elders in unison, which made the air between them and himself shake as if it wanted to collapse.

Their voices together sounded like an aria weaving its way through Jody's consciousness. It sang so sweetly that it felt like his very being was being ripped to shreds by the notes. Stunned at the sheer intensity of the moment, Jody watched in amazement as the eight grey-robed elders vanished, only to be replaced by two mysterious figures made of brilliant white light. Their thoughts stormed into his mind with such force as if the twilight proxy had returned to speak directly to him.

[Fallen One.]

[To possess the soul of Prometheus is the same as inheriting the love of the Nova.]

[Your destiny is beyond this world's fate. It is in the stars.]

[Thus, the Fate Guardians of the Land tied to this world cannot affect your destiny.]

[You can not see their artifacts, as they do not have any that will align with your soul.]

[We are the Fate Guardians of the Sky.]

[You may choose one of two Holy Artifacts of this Gaea Life Star.]

[You may choose one of the three Divine Artifacts of this Gaea Life Star.]

[Your karma is now bound to this world!]

[Choose wisely.]

Jody found himself absolutely flabbergasted. What damn pharaoh's soul, what guardians, and what life stars? Could this be related to the mystery surrounding his unique soul? Didn't they just call him a Fallen One? His father had recently called him this as well...

'That's it! This should definitely be the case,' thought Jody as realization hit him.

A Fallen One!

One of the top five constitutions. The book 'Mysterious Constitutions of the World' barely mentioned this constitution, describing it vaguely. His father had also once referred to Jody as having this constitution.

Maybe he could finally find some answers here.

"Seniors, can you tell me what a Prometheus Soul is? What is a Fallen One?" asked Jody, as both of these points were paramount to him. As for the former, he had never heard whispers of such a thing, nor had he ever read about it.

[The True Pharaoh's reincarnated God Soul can only be possessed by descendants of the original members of the Nova God Clan…] 

[Or the reincarnations of true Nova Gods. Such as Nova God Prometheus.]

[Having a god soul in the vessel of a hero means you are a Fallen God…]

[Having a hollowed soul that escaped its seal and took over the main soul means you are a Fallen One.]

[Descendant of the Nova...]

[Child of peerless destiny...]

[Scion of the light…]

[Ruler of Infinite Flames.]

[This is all we can tell you, for this is all we see.]