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nAs he came to a few feet of distance from the dome of stable space known to protect every interdimensional portal across the multiverse, Daniel found himself trapped in place by the existential power that belonged to the overwhelming consciousness.

nHis karmic power, ki and spiritual awareness had been locked, and even his senses had been dulled, for the power that had trapped him, and by extension Sacrifice as well, did not allow for any signal to be sent to his brain from his tongue, skin, nose, ears and eyes. Thankfully, this power did not seem to account for overly developed mental powers, as Daniel quickly found himself able to use his to picture the last few images that had appeared in front of him before being trapped into space.

nWhat appeared in his mind was a sea of bluish spatial essence which surrounded the gargantuan portal. “That doesn’t tell me much.” Daniel thought to himself before choosing to unleash his mental power outside of his body, to use it in what he remembered to be an old practice he had learned from a race of mental cultivators many years back.

nSoon an intangible essence left his body in a green-colored wisp of light, then solidified into a small avatar that appeared identical to him in shape, but not in size, for it reached just about an inch in height in its full form. Once fully formed, Daniel inhabited the avatar with his consciousness, and used it to look around, and help him regain his bearings.

nThe first thing the avatar noticed were the approaching figures of Order, Sentience and Instinct, each armed with their weapons of choice and ready to strike at his defenseless self. Yet, what truly caught his attention was the gargantuan pair of indifferent white eyes that had appeared behind them, and were currently staring at him with pure hostility. Each as big as a planet, and as bright as a white star covered in a thin ring of darkness. In the middle were empty pupils that appeared capable of leering through the very fabric of existence. Every detail of every moment in the past, present and future.

n“That is who this pressure is coming from.” Daniel thought as his avatar’s ghastly gaze met the pair of white eyes. “Fate.”

nOrder and the others continued to approach, at a now calmer pace. Their nails, swords and whip charged with the full extent of their powers, for they could not afford to spare any more. “Do it!” A disembodied voice said. A voice that pierced through the mind, and that sounded like a sound that was being played out, was about to be played and had been played all at the same time.

nInstinct’s fingers joined together, and his hand turned into a drill of sorts while Sentience solidified his power, turning the whip he was wielding into a several miles long spear. Neither of the two needed wide attacks any longer. Not now that their opponent was forced still, presented to them like game that had found itself stuck in a hunter’s trap.

nThe three coordinated their attacks, aware that their powers would not be able to pierce through Fate’s power, and that the very barrier would probably be removed just in time for their attacks to land, and far too late for Daniel to dodge. But then, a voice echoed across the universe. A second disembodied voice that Daniel felt was somehow familiar. One he had only heard speak a few words, thousands of years back. An old and calm voice said, “Now, this is unbecoming of your nature, my brother.”

nAs these words were spoken, the left of the two floating eyes began to flicker. Slowly at first, and then rapidly until the light disappeared from it. When the eye reignited, the light was not pure white any longer, but of a golden color.

nThe attacks of Order, Sentience and Instinct came to a halt as they too found themselves stuck in what, to the three of them, might as well have been a barrier of space and time essence, for they did not have the luxury of a powerful mind that Daniel had.

n“Stay out of this.” The first voice said as the single white eye began to shrink, until little more than a pinprick of light was left of it. In the distance, Daniel could see that this light was shrouding a white silhouette. A humanoid creature he was struggling to see the details of, since the light it shone with was too powerful for his mental power to see through.

nOnce in human form, the silhouette began approaching, slowly growing in size until, moments later, the second eye followed suit. A second figure formed out of the remaining eye, but the glow it was surrounded by was much weaker. So weak, in fact, that Daniel could somewhat recognize a few details of the person it belonged to. An old man with long disheveled hair and scraggly beard wearing a tattered brown robe.

nThis second figure darted in front of the entity it called brother, and once the latter stopped, he said, “You know why I had to intervene. I did it for you.”

n“LIES!” Yelled the white silhouette, sending shock waves that instantly cracked the fabric of space, and initiating the universe’s collapse. “Nothing you have ever done was done for anyone other than yourself!” As he finished speaking the white silhouette disappeared, then reappeared just a few feet ahead, past the old man crowned in golden power.

nThe old man followed suit, disappearing and reappearing in front of his brother, stopping him from advancing any further once again. His hands lay against the chest of the white silhouette, pressing against him in a calming manner. “Were that true, I would not be stopping you now. I would let you kill him, and prove that your nature is fickle, and bound to the actions of others.. as mine is.”

nThese words seemed to have struck a chord in the entity shroud in white light, who halted its furious march soon after. Its head lowered gently as he said, in what Daniel could feel was a more saddened tone, filled with regret. “Why did you have to exist..? Why did you have to be born?” He whispered after several seconds of silence, unbothered by how these words would be perceived by the old man.

nDespite the hurtful words, the old man did not appear offended. Both hands lay gently over his brother’s shoulders, as he responded in the way a grandparents would their grieving grandchild, “I don’t know, brother. I never wanted to hurt you, or your nature.” His hands slid past his shoulders, then lowered back to his sides. “But I exist. Time will tell what our place within the multiverse was always destined.. fated to be.”

nThe white silhouette responded to the old man’s reassuring tone with a faint nod of his head, then disappeared. Once alone, the old man turned to give a last look at Daniel’s fleeting figure, still stuck in space and time. His golden eyes, however, were not aimed at Daniel’s frozen body, but at the eyes of his avatar. His lips curved into a faint smile, then, he disappeared as well, nowhere to be seen or felt by any of the powers at Daniel’s disposal.

nAs soon as the two disappeared, Daniel’s consciousness left the small avatar and dove back into his head, just in time for the space around him to unfreeze. “AAAH! SAVE ME!” Yelled Sacrifice while waving his arms and legs, then shutting up the moment he saw the figures of the three high tier aspects of existence linger around him, weapons drawn and ready to strike, yet unmoving.

n“Interesting..” Daniel muttered to himself. His body, now free of any of its constraints, turned to face the three attackers. A small spear of golden light formed within his free hand, which he then sent in a piercing motion towards the aspect of Order, only to find it clashing against an unexplainable force. He tried again, and again, and again, but each attempt failed. The tip of his spear would never even come close to its mark, stopping just a few inches from causing any damage. “Heh..” He sighed in disappointment. “It was worth a try.”

nThe disappointment Daniel was feeling, however, was short-lived. A smile formed in his face as he noticed that he was still holding onto the collar of Sacrifice’s robe. Blood-colored existential power had reached him in the few moments they had spent free of their bindings, but were soon dispelled by a weak wave of Daniel’s karmic power. “Well, at least I still have you.” He said before turning towards the interdimensional portal and dashing towards it.

n“NO!” Sacrifice screamed in panic, just in time to see the unfrozen figures of Order, Sentience and Instinct strike the empty air and notice him in the distance, but it was too late, for the watery power of the portal had already embraced him.

nOnce out of the universe, Daniel and Sacrifice found themselves within the white expanses of the trigate. A passive space many before them had used for travel, and from which they felt no form of threat, but that at the moment, was devouring the red and gold colored powers that their bodies emitted.

nDaniel, who could store his power within his body, did not appear bothered by this event, and quietly absorbed most of the spare power that lingered around him. Sacrifice, however, was beginning to panic. Not only was the power that surrounded him being consumed, but so was that within his body, which was being ripped out of his flesh like the moisture of a mortal man’s body would in space.

nThis process took only a few minutes, after which, Daniel threw Sacrifice’s now mortal form aside and focused on himself. Moments later, two small lights emerged from his forehead, then grew to the size of two humans. A faint pop was heard as the light shattered, revealing the figures of Der and Roley.

n“What happened?” Der asked, now awake from what he had felt being a peaceful sleep that had lasted anywhere between a few seconds, to thousands of years. “How did we get here?”

n“With someone’s help.” Daniel responded casually.

nDer did not bother to inquire further. He knew that Daniel had little of his former humanity left. If he did not wish to speak on what had happened, he would not be able to convince him otherwise. Instead, his expression turned grave as he remembered something important. “What about our friends? Did we recover them?” He asked.

n“Argh.” Roley groaned to the side. His head held in between his hands as he experienced a mental fatigue he had never experienced before. The effect of the endless battlefield had not come for free, he realized right before hearing Der’s question.

nDaniel did not answer, and instead grabbed the now choking figure of Sacrifice who, now devoid of every bit of his existential power, was not much different in nature than an odd-looking mortal. Weak, fragile, and unable to breathe in the trigate’s lack of air. “Do you mind?” He asked Roley, who immediately created a breathable atmosphere for Sacrifice to breathe in.

nSacrifice took a deep breath, the first in many millions of years. It took him several minutes before getting accustomed with the ancient art of breathing, and regaining the ability to talk.

nBefore he could speak, however, Daniel grabbed him by the hand, and with a slight of hand he removed one of his rings. Specifically, the ring that held the pocket dimension which contained the former members of his group. He then asked, while dangling the ring right in front of his eyes, “Are they all here? The people you were holding hostage, are they all here?”

n“Wait!” Sacrifice finally said, “I will tell you who sent me, just.. don’t kill me! Please!”

nDaniel rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Just answer the damn question.” He said with an audible lack of patience.

n“I-Yes.. no? I don’t know! Those are the mortals who were given for me to hold. I don’t know if they are the people you are looking for!” Sacrifice answered, visibly terrified.

nDaniel was not bothered by the man’s words. He knew that Roley’s system would not lie, and point them in the wrong direction. He could not tell for sure whether every person his former self wanted him to keep safe were alive and kicking inside it, not after thousands of years. But he knew that those within the ring were at the very least what was left of his former group.

n“Close enough.” Daniel said without taking his eyes off of the ring. His other hand casually let out small blades of golden powers which instantly pierced through the atmosphere that was allowing Sacrifice to breathe.

nOnce again Sacrifice began to choke, and claw at the air in front of him in an attempt to catch Daniel’s attention, but he never did. “I can tell you who sent me!” he screamed in his mind.

n“I already know.” Daniel muttered out loud as Sacrifice slowly died.

nDer and Roley did not appear bothered by the aspect’s death, for they had other things to worry about. They could feel that the portal that stood nearby was the one they had just left, and they knew that any potential pursuer was likely not far.

nƥαṇdα- ηθνε|·ƈθm

nDaniel began to giggle, amused by the scholar’s question. “There is no need. No other aspect of existence would dare challenge me here. The Trigate is my domain.” His attention had never left the ring he held in his fingers. A common ring bound with a spatial formation. One different from the ones he had seen before, which shrunk space in a way similar to his karmic power. ‘Whoever made this, must have a perfect comprehension of space.’ He thought before moving the ring closer to his two companions. “Let’s have a look inside, shall we?”

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