• Published 24th Apr 2016
  • 20,933 Views, 3,731 Comments

What I Am - Knight Breeze



Somewhat confused at the recent turn of events, Alex desperately tries to find his place in this strange, yet familiar land. However, dark powers loom on the horizon, threatening to destroy not only his new home, but his old one as well...

  • ...
41
 3,731
 20,933

Chapter XXVIII

Chapter XXVIII

Akitesh opened her eyes, and instantly knew something was wrong. Instead of being inside Alexander’s head, she found herself floating in the aether. It was a shifting blue nothingness with white fluctuations that seemed to stretch on for an eternity, broken by only a single door in front of her, floating through the otherwise empty representation of the spiritual field that covered the entire planet.

The door was oddly detailed for the usual thoughts and dreams that floated through this seemingly endless abyss. It was made of some kind of wood, and coated in something that gave it a glossy finish, with nothing more to note about it other than a single knot in the upper left hand corner. Roughly at waist height, on the right-hand side, Akitesh could see a small, perfectly spherical piece of metal. It was most likely brass, and was probably serving as the door’s handle. The handle was almost perfectly smooth, save for a number of deep claw marks that had been scratched into its surface.

Akitesh slithered forward and lightly placed a hand on the surface of the door. It felt wooden and real, almost unnaturally so. It also felt warm, and right as her scales made contact with the surface, she thought she could hear someone scream in the distance. “What… what is this? Where am I? Why am I not in Alexander’s memories?”

“You are in my domain,” a commanding voice echoed through the surrounding, shifting nothingness. Akitesh turned, gathering power to her as she moved to defend herself from whatever threat had appeared, but froze at the sight that greeted her.

Behind her, slowly walking through the void, was the Dark Queen of the equines, her ethereal mane shifting in perfect harmony with the ebb and flow of the roiling void. Her eyes were as hard as flint, and she looked at Akitesh as one would look at a bug on the side of the road. “You are not in his mind yet because you have not earned the trust to have unrestrained access to the mind of anyone on this planet. Thus, you will see his memories through the lens I provide, or you will leave now. This is non-negotiable.”

Akitesh had known about the translating qualities of the aether, but this was the first time she had experienced it for herself. It was quite the startling experience to say the least, the translation of ideas almost perfect through this ethereal space. It was an almost ideal place to hold conversations for those that did not share a language, though the dangers of roving nightmares were too great for it to ever serve as such a mediator for long. Most translation spells that didn’t rely upon a pre-constructed lexicon used this place for that purpose, though the passage back into the real world disrupted the message greatly, making them imperfect at best.

With especial care as to not startle the Dark Queen, Akitesh lowered her guard and released the energy she had gathered, well aware that the Dark Queen could erase her mind as easily as she could crush an insect. Akitesh then slowly bowed her head, and held one set of her arms out to her sides, while the other set was crossed in front of her, in a show of deference to the equine alien. “I am in your coils,” she said automatically, not even thinking about it before the old colloquialism slipped out of her mouth.

The Dark Queen continued to stare her down for a full thirty seconds, before she finally turned her head to the side and let out an annoyed huff. “Very well, then.” She swept past the genuflecting snake before she stopped at the door, her attitude not changing in the slightest as she turned back and looked down at her. “Beyond this door lies Alex’s psyche. If you are ready, we shall begin. But I must warn you that you may not like what you find inside. His memories are… not the happiest of places to visit.”

“I would be surprised if they were, considering what he has been through. I am prepared, however,” Akitesh said as she rose from her bow.

The queen looked doubtful at that. “I hope for your sake that you are,” she said. She then turned back towards the door, her horn glowing with arcane energies, causing the door to do the same. With an almost eerie creak, the door slowly swung open, revealing nothing but a dark abyss. Without another word, Akitesh’s equine guide disappeared into the portal.

The priestess felt a sliver of doubt worm its way into her heart, but she would not be dissuaded. She had come too far to back down now, and with a swallow to calm her nerves, she slithered after the equine ruler, determined to see this through to its end.

* * *

Princess Luna waited patiently at the door at the end of the hallway. It was only an illusion she had constructed in the aether, but it still served its purpose. It was a warning, one last chance for the clearly unprepared snake alien to back away, before she went in too deep. Much to Luna’s chagrin, however, it seemed like the creature would not be so easily scared off, and after only a few moments of waiting, she was joined by the snake alien, her face a mask of stern impartiality.

This was the Princess of the Night’s domain, however, and as much as the snake alien would have liked to hide it, she was far too inexperienced to effectively hide her nervousness. “Are you ready?” the princess asked, her gaze boring into the snake alien.

“I am, Dark Queen.”

“Good. My name is Luna, and you will address me as such while we are inside. You will not move unless I say so, you will not touch anything without my express permission, and you will not call upon any power you possess while inside, am I clear? Alex does not trust you, and any attempt to delve further may result in your expulsion from his mind, or quite possibly your death.” Princess Luna continued to eye the priestess for several seconds longer, before giving her a satisfied nod. “Now, let us begin in earnest.”

Without any ceremony, Princess Luna opened the door, revealing the best representation of the mind of Alexander Cunningham that the aether could put together.

They were standing at the open entryway to an old, damaged library. Directly in front of them was a short staircase leading down to the main desk, while directly behind it was a huge number of bookcases, all neatly lined up with strange alien texts denoting aisle numbers and rows, their meaning easily conveyed through the power of the aether. Many of the bookcases looked battered, however, while some clearly had suffered fire damage of some kind, though some were missing entirely. In their places stood things that were almost identical in size and dimension, though their appearance was far from the weathered, damaged, wooden bookcases nearby. Instead, they were ominous-looking obelisks of metal and blinking lights, with long ropes of wires and cables sprawling from their mass in every direction. There was a faint hum that could be heard from these towers, and if either Akitesh or Luna got near them, they would have been able to detect a faint metallic taste in the air.

As if to juxtapose the otherwise orderly lines of towers and bookcases, the two intruders could see papers and open books scattered everywhere. Some were even still in the air, thrown to the wind to hang there, eternally flapping in a wind that did not exist. There were a large number of strange, and sometimes conflicting art pieces scattered throughout the place as well, and running back and forth through the library, seemingly searching for something important, was a gangling-looking human.

The human had red unruly hair, and piercing grey eyes. He was dressed up in what appeared to have been a formal suit at one point, but it had definitely seen better days. The tie he wore was untied and fluttered behind him as he moved, The jacket was missing entirely, as were his shoes, and both his pants and shirt were patched and faded. The human would quickly move from one shelf to the next, sometimes pulling out books, or papers, before thumbing through them quickly, then tossing them haphazardly to the wind. He didn't even seem to notice the intruders at first, but when he did, he only spared them a passing glance before continuing on his frenzied hunt. Luna couldn’t help but think that he looked overworked, though he was far from alone in his labors.

On the floor, crawling on books, in the rafters and on the shelves, the two could see a multitude of small, metal, spider-like things. They were sharp, angular, and deadly-looking, and they moved with a terrifying skittering sound that seemed to echo throughout the library. As dangerous as these things appeared, however, they did not approach the two, or the human, with any obvious ill-intent. In fact, they completely ignored the two intruders, while being obsessively focused on the human. Sometimes, when the human would throw a book, or a page, one of the spiders would quickly dart forward to scoop it up, then scuttle away, and place the thrown away item exactly where the human had pulled it from in the first place. Other times, the human would grunt a short word at one of the spiders, who would dart off, before returning with a page, or a note, or something else that the human had asked for.

They were creepy, but seemingly they wanted to help. This was not so for the being that seemed to hover just directly behind the human at all times.

It appeared to be a gross, misshapen, exaggeration of Alex’s old, monstrous form. The talons seemed to be much longer, as were the teeth, and the eyes seemed to burn with a deadly malice. However, any other detail was lost, since the beast appeared to be formed completely of millions of short white lines and tiny white circles. It only moved when the human moved, hovering just over the creatures shoulder, but never in the way. It had a faint, guardian-like aspect to it, though Luna couldn't help but feel like it was waiting for something, or for someone.

Unlike everything else in the room, the monster’s eyes immediately locked onto the two intruders the moment they entered the library. It didn't make a move towards them, or otherwise show that it had seen them. In fact, it continued to dutifully follow the human, regardless of the fact that it should have been impossible for it to see where it was going. Yet it continued to stare at them, and Luna couldn't help but feel like it was daring them to make a wrong move.

None of this was new to the Princess of the Night. While this was the first time she had seen the human’s conscious mind, she was still familiar with every aspect represented here, and recognized each element for what it was. The only difference here was the physical representation the Aether was giving them.

Luna took a deep breath, before striding confidently towards the front desk. The papers and books seemed to move out of the way for her as she approached, and right before she reached the desk, the human suddenly took note of her, and quickly strode over to the desk, before sliding into the chair. “Hello, Luna, Akitesh. Are we ready to begin?” Alex asked, his voice echoing throughout every corner of this odd place.

“Yes, Alex. Everything you have. We’re ready,” Luna said, giving the human a slight bow.

There was a pause, before Alex let out a nervous chuckler. “I… I really don’t know how to control this place, though. I don’t know what spell or magic you used to create it, so-”

“We used no spell, Alex,” Luna gently interrupted him. “We are merely pulling you into the Aether with us, and allowing it to conform to your mind’s shape. My protection here is absolute, so you need not worry about others eavesdropping. Just think back to when you were first kidnapped, and this place will do the rest.”

“Well, okay then…” Alex said, before awkwardly scratching behind his head. “I guess the beginning is good enough. It all started when I came home from work…”

The instant that Alex started talking, one of the metallic spiders near him immediately scurried off to find something. While it was busy with its task, a large set of double doors seemed to materialize out of nowhere to the right of the help desk. The human leapt from his chair, his curiosity piqued as he opened the doors to take a look inside. He seemed satisfied with what he saw, and shoved both open right at the same time that the spider returned, holding up what looked like one of those new reels for one of those films that were so popular in modern Equestria. “Well, I guess this will do,” the human said, before taking the reel and motioning towards the open door.

The room inside seemed to be a large theater of some kind. Rows and rows of chairs were all lined up and bolted to the floor, while a rich red carpet covered the whole floor. The place was a lot cleaner than most theaters that Luna had visited, though it still had that old, damaged feel that the library had.

Akitesh first looked to Luna, remembering her promise to not move until she instructed. Once she had that permission, she quickly swept past Alex, though she first gave the human a single nod. “Thank you, Alex. I promise you, you will not regret this.”

“No… but you probably will,” Alex’s voice echoed through the mindscape as he watched her slither inside.

Luna slowly followed her in, but stopped for a second to also incline her head towards the human as she passed before continuing on. She had already seen much of what Alex was about to show them, and was in no hurry to see anymore. However, she was here not to observe Alex’s past, but to prevent the snake from seeing too much. As a byproduct of this, she was more or less obligated to see this thing in its entirety.

The dark theater had rows upon rows of empty seats, and on the back wall was a grainy, shaky view of someone with hands unlocking the door to a house. The snake was sitting in the front row, her attention riveted to the screen, and Luna could tell immediately that the snake was using more than just her eyes and ears to witness this memory.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Princess Luna said, before taking the seat next to the snake.

“Of course. I am looking for clues, and even if he doesn't have an eidetic memory, there might be something that he felt, or smelled, that could lead me in the right direction.

“While I applaud your dedication, I must warn you…” Princess Luna said, just as the image on the screen suddenly seemed to explode in a flash of light and sound, and the snake alien pitched forward in sympathetic pain. “It will only get worse from here on out.”

“I don't care,” Akitesh said through gritted teeth as she returned to her seat. “This is more important than my own comfort. I am prepared for this trial.”

“Child, by the end of this, you may wish to take back your words,” Princess Luna said, as the nightmare began in earnest.

* * *

The nightmare dragged on, and on, and on. The memories stretched on for days, which turned into weeks, which turned into months. Six whole months passed in less than an hour, and as much as she would have liked to say that she kept the tactile link active the whole time, it would have been a lie. It would have been a lie to say that she kept it on for even half that time.

It would have been far more accurate to say that she kept it running up until she felt a running drill being pressed into the back of her head.

Even without the pain, the experience was still harrowing, and by the end of the hour, Akitesh found herself curled up on the floor of the theater, her eyes shut tight as monstrosity after monstrosity played through her mind. She tried to remember her training, tried to focus her spirit, to overcome this obstacle, but this torture was far greater than anything she could have possibly anticipated. Eventually, she put herself into a trance, letting her subconscious tell her when it was over, and her Guardian record the memory for future study.

Finally, after what felt like centuries, her subconscious let her know that the horror show seemed to be winding down. Alexander had regained control of his and his family's bodies, and they had set about taking the ship of the degenerate, heathen monsters that had inflicted such torment upon another being. Slowly, Akitesh took in a deep, shuddering breath as she left the trance she had put herself in, and slowly unwound her astral projection from around herself, before retaking her seat. The horrors, while diminished, weren't quite over yet. Even as Alexander ran his claws through one of the monsters aboard the ship, Akitesh could still hear the cries of the dying humans fill the theater, each one filled with anguish before they were snuffed out, one by one. The fighting seemed to continue for a short time afterwards, before the ship started shaking, throwing Alexander violently around in the air vent he was hiding in, before knocking him senseless.

The theater screen went dark, and Akitesh found herself looking up towards the ceiling as tears ran freely from her eyes. “Is that it? You escaped, and you alone remain?” she asked, her voice trembling. “Please… Please tell me that is all… That that is the end of the horror…”

Akitesh felt an ever so slight amount of hesitation from Alexander, and for a brief instant, Akitesh could have sworn she had seen a mechanical creature, faintly feline in appearance, show up on the screen. In that same instant, however, a dark shadow swarmed in front of the screen and blocked her view, preventing her from seeing any more.

Queen Luna appeared from that shadow, her stony gaze locked onto Akitesh as she stared her down. “I believe you have everything you need. Leave.”

Akitesh did not hear her, though. It had been for less than a second, less than a moment, but she had seen the feline. She had seen more than with just her eyes, and without any control of what was happening, she felt her back arch, and her astral form was pulled out of Alexander’s mind.

She found herself standing on the top of a tall tower. Above her the stars seemed to fall from the sky, and impact the ground below. There was screaming all around her, and all she could do was stare in horror as she watched her own ship, The Purpose, enter the atmosphere. It moved slowly, but its course was unmistakable. It would crash into the planet, killing all nearby, and possibly the whole world in the process.

“What is this?” a familiar voice demanded behind her. Akitesh whipped around to see Queen Luna step through a dark rift, her face a mask of anger and horror.

“Are you really here? Or are you part of the vision?” Akitesh asked, not quite believing that she had been followed into this place.

“Vision? What are you talking about?” Queen Luna demanded, before stepping forward, her eyes sweeping over the destruction before her. “What are you planning? Why would you destroy yourself, and us in the process?”

“I would never do this. I have no control over this, and nothing here has happened yet. You shouldn’t have come here, though. You should not have followed me,” Akitesh said, shaking her head sadly.

Luna looked at her with anger in her eyes, her power gathering as she prepared to defend herself. "Is that a threat?"

Akitesh did not say anything at first. Instead, she turned to watch her ship continue its crash course, before closing her eyes in pain. “It is not. I simply do not wish to inflict this torment upon you as well.” She then turned to Luna, her arms outstretched, her eyes opened, and her gaze locked onto Luna as the ship impacted the valley below them. Wind and fire ripped around the two as the ship struck with more force than any nuclear warhead, but neither were harmed, as none of this was truly happening.

Luna still flinched, however, taking a few steps back before realizing the illusory nature of this place. “What torment? What are you talking about?” she demanded, her voice rising above the destruction around them.

“See for yourself, Queen Luna,” Akitesh said, before motioning towards the valley below. “Watch the end with me, and pray that the Creator has given us a way out.”

* * *

Captain Hazalk eyed the scene in front of him carefully, trying desperately to figure out what trick there was behind the power he was witnessing. He knew his eyes alone wouldn't be enough, nor would the suite of scanners he had in the tablet in his pocket, but he would not be dissuaded. It was something that seemed to defy everything he thought he knew about the universe, something that he and his people had encountered more than once, and had developed a healthy fear of.

Priestess Akitesh’s eyes shown with a bright, brilliant orange color, while the dark blue equine’s horn had a ghostly, muted blue glow surrounding it. Every sensor he had, including his own eyes, couldn't detect a reason for that glow. There was no increase in heat, no spike in electromagnetic activity other than the visible one, no discernible radiation, and no ripples in the fabric of space-time. There was a slight, audible hum, as well as a faint, almost inaudible tinkling sound, but all his directional microphones could do was tell him that the sounds were coming from the priestess and the equine.

Hazalk continued to stare intently, however, hoping that, somehow, this mystery would unfold itself if he just concentrated hard enough. Finally, after a few more minutes of absolutely nothing, the captain of The Bastion leaned back into his chair, shut his eyes, and groaned in frustration. If it doesn't follow the natural laws, then how is this possible? Does she draw power from some alternate dimension? Some sort of manifestation of mental power? How?

Hazalk might have been a soldier since his birth, but conquest held no beauty to the jaded captain. He had already seen the terrors of war, experienced this power from the receiving end, and if he were truly being honest, he could have gone his entire life after the end of the war without seeing this power, or another battle, as long as he lived.

It wasn't that simple, however. The quzin were not an isolated case. There were more species than just them who could use this power, and Hazalk was willing to bet that not everyone would be as peaceful as the quzin. He needed this power, his people needed this power, if they were to stand on equal footing with these alien witches.

Just the memories of battles long past, of ship corridors filled with lightning, snakes moving faster than thought barreling down on him, and whole ships disintegrating as a star rammed into their hulls at relativistic speeds sent shivers down his spine.

Even a small understanding of that power would be enough… he thought as he opened his eyes, and stared down at his top left hand. Even a fraction of it… say, if I could reach out, and take a small amount of electrons from the air, and bend them to my will, that would be enough to- “Ow-” he gasped ever so slightly as a small, tiny, insignificant spark jumped between his fingers.

The second it had appeared, though, it was gone, leaving Hazalk feeling like he had run the most brutal, grueling obstacle course ever devised by krin… twice. He felt like keeling over right then and there, and only his years in the service kept him awake and alert.

A little alarmed, Hazalk looked around, trying to locate the source of whatever that phenomenon was. Unfortunately, with the sole exception of the white equine, everyone present seemed wholly enveloped in what they were doing to Alexander, including the survivor himself. Even the White Queen, though she was not directly involved, still seemed quite fixated in what was going on, but that did not ease Hazalk’s nerves in the slightest. She might have done something, though… Hazalk thought as he attempted to assess what the equine’s game might be.

However, as intently as he watched her, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, and he started having the sneaking suspicion that no one present was responsible for whatever had just drained him of his stamina.

Hazalk was just about to take a look underneath the table, to see if something there might be the culprit, but stopped when Akitesh’s eyes and the blue equine’s horn suddenly stopped glowing. Hazalk straightened up and opened his mouth to ask something, but the question died in his throat as Akitesh quickly slithered away from Alexander. Her movements were jittery and imprecise, and while Hazalk wasn’t an expert on quzin expressions, she honestly did not look like she felt well.

“Are you alright?” Hazalk asked, as he wearily got to his feet.

Akitesh did not answer. Instead, she laid one hand to where Hazalk presumed her stomach must be, while one was pressed firmly to her mouth.

“I take it you didn’t like what you saw?” Alexander asked in krin, his eyes boring into the priestess.

She backed away even further, before turning abruptly, and collapsing onto the stone floor. She took several deep breaths in a clear attempt to control what urge had possessed her, but it was all for naught. Without much more warning, Akitesh’s whole frame seemed to lock up, and what was left of the priestess’s breakfast became an intimate acquaintance of the castle floor.

Hazalk quickly got up and rushed to her side, before gently laying a hand on her back. “Priestess, what happened?”

“He was awake the whole time…” she finally managed to gasp.

Hazalk was a little confused at this, and he briefly looked back to the survivor for clarification. “I wouldn’t say the whole time…” he muttered under his breath.

Akitesh’s head whipped up at that, her eyes fixed onto Alexander’s face with a look of horror and pity. “No… you’re repressing it. I could feel it, like a bruise over the whole memory… but it’s still there. They kept you awake the whole time. They made sure you could feel it as they drilled into the back of your skull, when they removed your eyes, and installed new ones…”

At this, Hazalk looked towards the survivor, horror and rage mounting in his heart. “You’re telling me that those bastards…”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. It’s worse though… so much… ulp-”

Akitesh then began heaving again, during which Alexander began to quietly, yet quickly, talk with the two equines next to him. The white one looked shocked and horrified, and began saying something quickly to the blue one.

The blue one looked like she had seen a ghost. She was shaking like a leaf, and the only response she seemed willing to give was a single, simple nod of her head.

Once Alexander had his confirmation, he stood up, strode over to where Akitesh was, and kneeled down next to her. “I hope you found what you were looking for… And I hope it was worth it.”

Without another word, Alexander stood up, and turned to leave. He was stopped, though, when one of Akitesh’s arms lashed out and caught him by the leg. “Please… Don’t go… I have something to tell you…”

Alexander looked down at her, his face completely unreadable. “I don’t think there’s anything you could say that would bring back those I’ve lost. I don’t want to hear any pleas of sympathy, from you, or any of your ilk. The only thing I want to hear from you is that you’ve managed to capture or kill the ones responsible. We’re done here.”

“No… it’s not that…” she said, not releasing the death grip she had on his ankle. “It’s the remnants… those remnants of your friends…”

Alexander looked down at her sharply, anger in his eyes. “You promised… I made you-”

“I don’t know what they’re for, or what you were planning on doing with them. I only saw the feline body, but I knew what was in it, what you’ve done to them. Please, you must listen. You’re running out of time…”

Alexander watched her for a few seconds more, before finally conceding the point. “Fine, I’m listening. What is it that’s so important?”

“They cannot survive on their own. You have to forge them together. Turn them into one soul, or you’ll lose them to the veil. I don’t know how long you have left, but please, you must hurry.” At this, Akitesh looked up into the human’s eyes, her face covered in tears. “You must forge them into one, or none of us will see the end of the week.”

Author's Note:

Well, this was a bit of a doozy, but I'm pretty sure I finally got this one right. Special thanks to Alias_The_J and Cogsworth Wingthrop for their excellent criticism and suggestions. Really needed it for this one!

Anyway, shouldn't be too much longer before the next chapter. We're looking at a warcouncil one, and it's already halfway written (long story). No ETA, but as before, it will be ready approximentally whenever I have time to complete it.

If you'd like to hurry me along, maybe try my book?
=> What I've Become! <=

See you guys on the flip side!