Pain

Having been given his new chance by the voice, it was time for Leo to turn his mind to the unknown.

" What you are carrying inside you from now on will be guiding you in the future. You will realize what I am talking about. When the time comes, don't resist it, that will only make things harder. Now, before I lead you, it's time for you to give me something in return."

Leo was confused, he had nothing to give and then to an voice?

"The only thing I need from you is knowledge. I don't even know how long I've been here, so I need to know everything you know. Most importantly, you are going to tell me who exactly you are. Humans have always been easy to figure out, however, you are completely different. There is nothing better to satisfy my curiosity."

Leo told him everything from the very beginning in this world, knowing that he couldn't keep anything secret, besides, he had nothing to lose anymore. Not knowing how much time had passed, there was no day and night, just the blood red sky and the roar of the monsters from afar. The voice didn't doubt his words, rather it was thrilled to hear who exactly he was.

"Hahaha, so she has been hiding. They all went into hiding along with their responsibilities, quite disappointing. I never imagined something like this really would happen."

"Who do you mean by they?"

"Hmm? That doesn't bother you at all. In fact, you're nowhere near done talking about it. It''s only then that I can and will help you further."

The voice listened attentively, at one point becoming especially alerted.

"The humans have a Krystal? That you and four other people were summoned from? Just why did she let that happen? I think she's responsible for your "destiny". You know, we're more alike than I thought. I hate to use that word, but it was fate that we met."

"What does that mean now? Isn't it about time you told me about yourself?"

"I'm no one, you' ll have to be satisfied with that."

" No one? What do you mean no one?"

"Stop asking questions! It's my turn!"

Once the voice was satisfied with Leo's information, it ordered him to go to the front of the temple and focus. It directed him to use the powers according to his own way. Gradually, it taught him the basics of how to strengthen his body and maintain its control. Being a strict teacher, as soon as Leo failed, he punished him with the spikes piercing his body anew. Making him feel the agony until Leo was finally able to seal the wound with his powers.

"Excellent, the first stage is done. How do you feel?"

"Clearer."

"Hm, that's sufficient for now. Go to the Krystal and try to touch it, no talking back."

Following his words, Leo walked to the altar. He slowly extended his fresh hand and walked forward. For every inch he felt a hell of a headache as if his mind was about to explode. Slowly, his hands trembled more and more until he finally pulled his hand back. Leo was still a meter short of reaching the object.

"Hmph, at least better than last time, you' ve gotten a little closer. Though not as far as I expected but you can't expect too much from a human."

Leo was annoyed that the voice was so condescending about humans. Nevertheless, he did not start to argue with it, but kept his anger to himself. Whenever he brought out his patronizing nature, Leo was all the more motivated to prove him wrong.

"I see you are quite driven. That's perfect cause now we're going to dedicate ourselves to battle. I will try to give you more of my essence. Focus all your attention on my instructions."

Leo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Inside he felt a black flame that burned more and more brightly, distributing all the more pain. Within, he was on the verge of death when the flame suddenly extinguished. Being exhausted, Leo lay on the ground and had difficulties to breathe.

"Well done, we are already pretty far ahead. As I said before, starting now you'll learn active magic with skills and techniques. This is the most important of all lessons so no pauses."

An eternity passed, with Leo following all the instructions, accepting all the punishments, and not giving any back talk. Until he eventually managed to create a shadow weapon.

"Good, you can maintain it. As of now, you're on your own."

Utterly confused, Leo was about to ask the voice what that meant when the giant snake suddenly grabbed him and flung him away. He was flying through the darkness unable to stop. Because of his training, he was able to sense the ground and avoid a crash. Ahead of him the black smoke disappeared and he saw the world of mutants.

"Great, what should I do now?"

"You know what I want you to do, figure out the way back to the temple. It's going to be a long journey, I won't be helping you until you return. Remember what I told you."

Fed up, Leo walked straight ahead towards one of the monsters. His arm turned black and a sword appeared in his hand. In the near future, the weapon would be stained with an immense amount of blood. The boy realized that they were mutants, and yet they behaved like normal animals. Not all of them were hostile, some were even afraid of Leo. A few of them even raised families with babies and children. They looked disgusting but were peaceful. However, Leo made no exceptions, every single time he recalled what their kind had done to the humans. After he slaughtered most of the families, he awaited the last remaining one to slaughter him as well. He showed no mercy, acting without scruples or remorse. Leo behaved exactly as the voice wanted him to. He fed on his hatred, on his negative thoughts and turned them into violence, bloodlust and rage. With each kill, Leo's inner transformation intensified. Soon he barely showed any emotions anymore and hid them deep inside himself. Leo had no idea how much time passed, was it months, years, decades or just seconds or minutes? His body adjusted to the atmosphere, before long he didn't need to sleep or eat. He felt himself getting nearer and nearer, the aura of the Krystal was calling out to him. From a distance Leo saw a huge portal, without thinking he immediately rushed towards it. In front of the portal were several monsters heading straight to it. Immediately his emotions kicked in making him develop a protective instinct to save the people from the creatures and eliminate them here and now. Having no hesitation, he massacred them all and headed straight for the portal. His head was full of thoughts: Does it lead back to his world? I wonder how much time has passed? Is it the only portal around?

The voice remained silent as he got closer and closer. Once he was a few meters away, he suddenly felt an inner pressure. The closer he got the greater it became, something wasn't right.

"What, you don't feel it at all? Here, let me fix it for you."

Suddenly the inner pressure turned into hellish pain that lasted for a while. The further he got away from the portal the faster the pain stopped. Leo realized what was going on exactly.

"What did your powers do to me? Why does this feel like the Krystal? I can't waste more time, I have to go back!"

"That is not yet possible for you, my disciple. We are nowhere near finished."

"You're the one responsible for this, aren't you?"

"Not entirely, you are partly too. You and I had a deal, until it' s fulfilled you can't leave anywhere. Remember you needed my power and I gave it to you, you can''t withstand everything here until you've mastered it. It is easy: as soon as you can touch the Krystal you will be able to go leave. Since you're in such a hurry, you should make faster progress. Besides, if you love your humans so much, you can look for other portals if you want.

It's not like time is an issue for you hahaha."

"I don't have to patrol portals, there's another way."

"Oho, I like your look. I understand you want to speed things up here, best of luck with that."

Leo's goal was no longer the temple, it was now time for him to obliterate everything until nothing is left. Wherever he went he left dead bodies of the creatures. Deep down, he wondered if these monsters made it through other portals. Before long, he would know the truth about all of this.

Leo roamed the land destroying every living creature that crossed his path. He ran into a very strange mutant that he had never seen before. He wondered what it was all about, but his bloodlust controlled him completely and he killed the creature. Suddenly it's body vanished into a dark liquid that formed a human body. As Leo watched closely he realized that the body was the same as him, his reflection. The clone rushed towards Leo and was about to punch him with his fists. In the last moment he was able to parry the attack. The attack was so strong he was thrown backwards and fell to the ground. The clone remained silent as he dashed towards Leo. The boy was able to focus again and countered the attack with his right fist. The battle soon changed to a shadow fight. Leo soon realized something very important. The more he let loose and gave himself to his rage the weaker his shadow became. He used this weakness until he looked like a crazy battle junkie. He laughed as he slashed his clone into pieces. It vanished into dust. He was about to completely lose himself when he regained his mind. The sky suddenly changed with the deep dark red suddenly becoming a normal light blue sky.

"It seems that you have succeeded. You' ve almost accomplished your journey, return to me. We will then proceed to the final step."

Leo sensed that the temple was not far away, thus he hurried and went into the hall.

"Excellently done, that should be enough for the battle. Now, before we continue, I have something important to tell you: Actually, there are no more portals, what you saw was an illusion of mine. I actually thought you'd figure it out...well, it worked out in the end."

"What does that mean, no more portals?"

"It means what it's supposed to. No more portals, none have opened since you arrived. I didn't create them but I can feel if one is forming. And that feeling disappeared when you arrived. I have a hard time guessing what it is, kekeke."

"So I did it all for nothing? Did you do something to the monsters? What was that shadow?"

"Now now, control yourself. I have nothing to do with the monsters, I don't know their origin or their creator. The other stuff are some tricks of mine.

"Then why did I kill them all?"

"To amuse me, of course. Watching someone eradicate an entire species, it doesn't get more entertaining than that. The way you looked, the way you killed them, truly a joy to watch."

Leo lacked the energy to get excited. It wouldn't change anything about his situation, besides, he was going over possible problem cases. It was better for him to wipe everything out than if a portal suddenly opened after all.

"I guess the sky and my clone are your doings?"

"I see you realized the truth, that's good. Next comes the final step, if you succeed your return is imminent. But this time we have to cooperate with each other. It' s your turn to return the favor."

Suddenly he heard the voice in his head, not from the outside.

"No matter what happens, hold on if you don't want to drop dead. Remember your goal and focus on the flame. If everything turns out well, you will hear my voice again afterwards."

Leo closed his eyes and searched for the flame. By the time he found it, it was very large and expanding. Before he even could react, his entire body was suddenly on fire. This time it was different, old memories that he had long wanted to forget flooded back to him. Thousands of times they replayed in his head, each and every time he fell for the delusion that he might be able to change his past. Yet every single time he would kill his mother, be "tortured" and betrayed by his "father" and broen on the inside. His entire being was an endless nightmare. His mind was going crazy, forcing his body to put it ouf of its misery. The black blade emerged from his arm. Leo unconsciously held it to his neck while he was once again caught up in his horrific memories.

"That's enough! It's over."

He was pulled out of hypnosis, still feeling a burning pain in his body that was slowly but surely disappearing. As Leo examined himself he barely noticed any change, everything felt the same as before.

"You're wondering what just happened. Before you ask questions try to touch the Krystal."

Leo approached the object however this time he didn't feel anything. Without any problems he stretched out his arm and touched the surface. The previously transparent Krystal turned black in a flash. Within the next second, the black magic was sucked out of the device directly into Leo's body. He held on until the Krystal finally glowed translucent again. Upon pulling his hand away, the Krystal shattered into a thousand pieces.

"It really worked, it's finally done. Oh, how I've longed for this.

"What exactly just happened?"

"To put it simply: We are connected as of now. I was trapped in the Krystal and you released me from this prison. Henceforth, from this point on, I exist in you."

"What exactly does that mean? Are you controlling me from now on?"

"You'll see now."

Suddenly Leo was immobilized, his body invaded by infinite pain. He couldn't even cry out, the voice and he had switched places.

"As expected. Now let's get to the main part."

Suddenly he controlled his arm and held it to his throat.

"Why are you doing this?"

"To survive, of course. Our deal is over, I can do whatever I want. If I kill you I can take over your body fully afterwards. I have no desire to continue to linger here as a part of a human.

"You lied to me!"

"Me, lie to a human? Hahaha, your memories must be blurred. You won't need another thought in a minute. It's been a pleasure working with you."

Slashing his throat with Leo's arm, the boy lay on the ground gasping for air, unable to do anything. After a couple of seconds he stopped moving while his eyes remained frozen. In the end, there was no way he could stand up to this world...or was there?

Suddenly Leo started to breathe again, he was still lying on the ground andwas conscious again. Grabbing his neck, he didn't notice any wound and there was no change in his body.

"Hahaha, did you really think that I would kill you just like that? A human who is very much like me? Who can entertain me and keep fighting this world? It would be such a big waste. Besides, I don't feel like doing everything myself, taking over your body takes a lot of energy you know. On top of that, I can't unfold myself here, our journey has just begun.

"Then why did you do such a thing?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see how you would react to it. Most humans would have dropped dead immediately but you put up quite a mental resistance. Your willpower is superior to other human beings. It was just an illusion, a rather amusing scenario."

"You really are insane!"

"Hahaha, I appreciate the compliment though, I think you're mistaken. It sounds like an hollow phrase coming out of your mouth, you're far from understanding what insanity really is. I do understand your restlessness, you still don't see with your real eyes. That's exactly the reason why we now get to the next level of our relationship: What is your desire now that you have everything, now that you have me? Surely you haven't forgotten your purpose in all this time, have you?"

"No, I haven't. But if you exist in me, why don't you see it for yourself?"

"I want to hear you say it, if you really feel that way so tell me: what is your goal?"

Leo sank into thought. In all this time he had changed a lot, there was hardly anything left of his old self. Even though this world had changed him, he still kept the clear memories from his old world with him. There too he experienced cruel things yet he clung to these memories. How he slowly got a better life, how he got a small place to live in which he was not welcome at first, how he slowly was able to make friends at the new school, how he was able to see life from a different side. Even now, he was still holding on to that one feeling.

"Ugh, I see you still don't get it. You are still full of naivety and delusions, still holding on to your past ego. You know, your ambitions will be your demise if you truly want to do this. I guess you have to face it with your own eyes, which I have seen at that time. Honestly, I am a little disappointed and at the same time curious. How will your face look when you face despair and abandonment? Right at that very moment I shall guide you, I shall reveal to you the truth of this world, as I once intended to do. Here is my first warning: Your nature is bound to fail. I shall entrust you with my powers, but be warned: your body cannot use the full extent of them, should you use them excessively, you will experience suffering and pain just like you did here. Should you meet death before you achieve your goal, I will become the owner of this body, and you will no longer remain a part of it. Seems like a good offer, doesn't it?"

Leo listened to him carefully and reflected. He had no choice but to agree. The voice had told him no lies so far.

"Alright then, from now on the deal begins, I'm the boss as long as I stay on the right path. Plus, I have full control over my body."

"So be it, then there is nothing more to discuss."

"Yes there is. I have one more question. In all this time, I never knew who I was talking to or who was talking to me. What is your name?"

Silence fell for a moment until he finally delivered an answer.

"My name doesn't matter yet."

"What's that-"

"But I will reveal it to you. I will tell you at the very moment you are going to need me. That moment I am free, you will find it out."

Leo was dissatisfied with the answer yet he had no choice but to accept it.

"Now go on, I don't want to spend a second longer here than necessary."

Leo walked out of the temple and made his way to the place the voice had told him.

"Wait, what exactly are you doing? Have you forgotten that you have my powers? So you should try it out for real by now."

Initially Leo didn't know what he meant, but then he remembered that he wasn't the only living creature here. He closed his eyes with a grin.

"Gallian, come to me."

Suddenly the ground started to shake and the huge black snake appeared in front of him, looking down at him. Though it was basically a shadow, it manifested itself in front of him. Thus, he let the giant servant carry him to the destination point. As he got off the snake, he pointed the sword in its direction. With no hesitation, the creature charged straight at the shadow weapon before being absorbed by it. Leo was able to withstand the force of the impact. Afterwards, he stretched out his arm with a portal forming in front of him just as he voice instructed him to do. It glowed not red but black and was far smaller than the other portals.

"Now there is no turning back. Show me what you're truly capable of."