Face to face

Ben's vision went dark and then he was waking up back on the physical realm. He certainly had a lot to think about. But his inner life was never going to be the same again. Long gone were the days of visualization and imagination when he wanted to see Nancy. Right now he could actually be with her by entering another realm. And he could wake up on the etheric realm inside her body and from there he could choose to project outside her in another etheric body that would form from the essence she would give. And he could now stand face to face with her and he could feel her actual embrace, and taste the food she would make for him.

Ben had for so long desired an actual conversation face to face with his Nancy and now his desire was granted. Talking with her felt as natural, and the closeness he felt they shared was the bond of the people who had always lived together for a very long time. They were perfectly in sync that it was perfect telepathy and perfect empathy.

Though the etheric body was lighter compared to the physical body, everything else closely resembled each other.

The etheric body quickly responded to one's thoughts.

Nancy, by a thought, could change her form and become a second Ben. And this was actually a hobby of hers. Perhaps she wanted to demonstrate that she knew exactly what her lover looked like. So when Ben would project here and find another Ben beside him it did not bother him in the slightest.

Sometimes she would remain like that and sometimes she would reconsider and put on her form so he could look at her more.

She was teaching him a lot of things he didn't know about the etheric realm and how to use abilities.

One day they were walking in the woods near a 5 story high wall. She placed her foot on the wall then she began to walk upwards negating gravity. Within a few seconds, she now stood at the top of the wall.

"Come up here just like I did," she called down to him.

Gravity was real but it could be negated by one's thought power. So Ben placed his right foot first on the wall and brought his left foot ahead. Then he was walking up the wall just as Nancy had done and he joined her at the top.

"You did it on your first try, how impressive."

"Nothing is impossible for me when I am looking at you."

Nancy blushed, "You always say the sweetest things."

Now she was hiding her happiness by giving him her back. Ben just chuckled to himself. He took her hand so they could walk down along the height of the wall. Next, Nancy taught him flight, and then she taught him shape-shifting.

Ben found himself drawn more to the power of shape-shifting because not only did he take on the shape of objects, organic and inorganic, but he took on also their characteristics and qualities. If he took on the form of metal then he found himself as hard as metal, and if he took on the form of fire he found himself burning as hot as a fire. This power was very practical. For instance, his flying was clumsy and lacked precision. However, when he took the form of an eagle, his flight became fluid and precise.

And Nancy only used this power to…

When Ben had learned as many etheric things as he could Nancy brought him again to the space where the realms floated as tiny galaxies. She showed him Xeronis.

"Did I create this realm?"

"More like discovered it and then repopulated it. Xeronis was already there and your mind chanced upon it. It is a realm that most resonates with you and you meet the conditions to visit it. We meet the conditions."

"Okay then, let's visit Xeronis."

"Are you sure?"

"Could there be a problem?"

She thought for a little while then said, "There is a trial to overcome but you will be fine."

"A trial?"

But Nancy would not say more. And that is how Ben had ended up in Xeronis with a Xeronis specific body and with full consciousness of where he was. But he had not seen Nancy or a replica of himself when he arrived. So now he was joining Denzel the merchant and heading to the capital.

Ben was standing at the window in the guest room of Madam Brynhilda's house lost in thought when morning had dawned. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Milica opened the door and peeped in first before walking in to come and stand before him. It was the first time Ben saw her yet he already knew that she had the gift of foresight and could predict what could happen two days into the future. And at just sixteen she had complete mastery of her gift. She was studying him keenly so he decided to speak first.

"Hello."

When she had finished her initial examination of him she just asked, "Are you a god?"

END OF PART TWO

ADDITIONAL NOTES

4 December has always been a kind of an anniversary for the I and the Other, having decided to select a day to commemorate this union starting first in 2020 and observed again in 2021.

The Other is so much in love with Ben, and the I is so much in love with Nancy.

She is all I see wherever I turn. Where can I go and where can I declare that she is not there?

You are all I see wherever I turn. Where can I go and where can I declare that you are not there? You are in my shadow and you are in my breath. Even when so much time has passed you are still with me, inside my heart.

I alone see you. I am not bothered by this at all. You are my private reality. Your beauty I keep to myself. The love we share makes me whole and I am fulfilled and I am satisfied.

Nancy, I continue to love you now and forever.

I am always watching you. The voice of the one I love so well is music to my ears, so I am always waiting for the next time you speak. And I hang on every word you speak and you carry me in your words and transport me to our beautiful creations.

Ben, I continue to love you now and forever.

I commemorate this day because I am grateful that I fell in love when I was so young and I carried that love with me 24 years into the future and still I carry it with me. I am grateful to the younger me who built a world for his beloved. That world is not only a source of epic stories, but it is a place of great comfort to me. My beloved still stays with me in that place, and I am more in love with her as if I just met her yesterday.

Nothing fascinates me more than my obsession of Nancy. I can't touch her with physical hands yet my heart touches her just fine. I can't see her with physical eyes yet again my heart sees her just fine.

Nancy is spirit.

Before the face of my beloved is where I belong.