The initial cycle complete

The cycle stage 1 complete.

     Everything blended into nothingness, then everything sharpened into clarity. I stumbled and fell against an alley wall, my stomach lurched, but I held in everything that wanted to come up. I threw my hood up over my head and started walking the city streets. The city stunk, waste lined the street, I folded my arms against my chest inside the cloak and kept walking with my head down, avoiding eye contact with all.

     "You!" A voice said from behind me.

     I started to walk but a hand grabbed my shoulder.

     "Yes?" I asked, not turning.

     "A tax is needed for this part of town."

     "I don't have it, I will leave in less than an hour."

     "Not good enou-"

     I turned and ran into him, slamming him against the wall with my full weight. I grabbed his right wrist and ran my hand across his wrist, the vein opened and he screamed.

     "Hold it above your heart and apply pressure, if you do this you will not bleed to death."

     I walked away at a brisk pace, eventually turning into an alley to catch my breath. I walked out of the alley after a few minutes and smiled as I entered the bar.

     I looked around and found the bar and slid onto a stool and ordered a drink and a small meal. I felt something cold slid onto my back. I turned slightly and saw my younger self slid onto the stool beside me.

     "Hello." I said calmly.

     "I'll let you finish your meal and drink, but we must talk."

     "Pay for it and join me."

     "Drink not meal...I'll pay though."

     "Good, I couldn't cover the bill at the moment."

     "Will you say anything?" He asked in a whisper.

     "Never." I said quietly.

     He plopped the knife back into his pocket and I smiled at him, though my hood still hid my face.

     "Good, thank you."

     My drink and meal arrived and he ordered my old favorite. I smiled and started eating. I finished my drink and meal as he finished his drink. He payed the bill and looked me over and nodded towards the door. I nodded and got up and followed him out, he walked down the street a ways and then turned into an alley and led me deep down it, to a dead end.

     "Don't know why you're corapertive...I am sorry, but you're not going to see the end of the day."

     I looked to the sky and saw the stars.

     "Stars...I'd forgotten about them...unfortunately you won't be meeting you're quota today, tomorrow though you'll make a rapid increase, double I believe."

     "What do you mean...what are you saying? Don't...don't try to fight this...it won't hurt for long."

    I threw my hood back and stared at him, my chest exploded and I fell to the side of the alley, I blocked his next attack and then pinned him against the dead end of the alley. I turned my hand in a circle and slowly over the next minute I regrew my organs and most of the muscles, the skin regrew thin and papery. I collapsed against the of the alley and looked at my younger self. He was pale and shaking.

     "I'm not a copy, a shifter, or any kind of creature, I'm you from the far future."

     "How...how did...no."

     I relaxed my body and he stumbled forwards as the pressure holding him released. I held my hands up and smiled at him.

     He stared at me and looked me up and down, shaking his head as he stared at me.

     "Do you want me to turn?"

     He shook his head.

     "Will you listen to me now?"

     He nodded.

     "Good...now-"

     I was pushed against the wall, I stared at him and after a moment he grabbed his head in pain and the pressure was released, I quickly released the pressure on his brain. He looked up at me.

     "Relax...please."

     He waved and a wave of magic projected itself towards me, I waved and they canceled each other out. We repeated this a dozen more times.

     "Enough!"

     He jumped and backed up, but kept his eyes on me.

     "You are rank five, subsection three, thirteenth from the top, and you've today you've killed eight for them, three for you."

     "Three for me?"

     "You're trying to create a stone, you're calculations are off by billions, though the ones you've gathered will become useful, just not for what you think."

     "How could they be off that much?"

     "You relied on the ancient texts to calculate the findings, the texts show a completed stone, but they don't show that it is much larger than the one shown, the one shown is only a piece of the stone, only the core of it is shown."

     "Isn't the core the most important piece?"

     "Yes, but not individually, individually the outer core is the most important, considering it allow an individual to utilize the effects of the stone."

     "How do you know this?"

     "I...my future self told me."

     "How can I believe that?"

     "You killed a women and her child last week, tortured them to death for them, do you really want to keep going on like this?"

     "And what did you do?"

     "After my future self left I left."

     "How, you're bound forever."

     "They're hiding a secret, you tell them that you know it, and want to leave, or you'll-"

     "Expose it, I'll be killed for sure!"

     "No."

     "No?"

     "You don't expose it, you threaten it, they will do anything for its protection, make them leave the city, and never return."

     "Where?"

     I pulled my hood up and concentrated for a moment, we appeared far below the city.

     "Who?" A slithering voice asked.

     I concentrated on my throat and quickly changed my vocal cords to match the creatures.

     "We are followers, we have been granted access to observe what we can." I said in the same slither.

     "You are a completed?"

     "Yes, not associated with your people, I assure you of that."

     "You may observe what you wish, does you're...servant know of what to avoid?"

     I turned to my younger self, he looked to me.

     "Scales alone, otherwise, permanent paralysis, and feeding."

     His eyes went wide. The room shook, I stumbled back a bit, but caught my balance, I went over and helped my younger self up, a wall of scales rushed by, both of us jumped back.

     "Thirty thousand or so?" I asked.

     "Twenty." the creature hissed.

     "We will be leaving, before you grow too hungry." I said.

     "Yes, hungry." it hissed.

     We reappeared in the alley. I closed my eyes and returned my vocal cords to my own.

     "You threaten that, tell them to leave within the week or you'll destroy the entire complex."

     "I...I...how?"

     I looked over at him, he sat on the ground. I walked over and joined him.

     "It was buried here a million or so years ago, I'll let you discover the rest later in your life, look back at the runic scripts, of the ancient...times...I have to return."

     "Return?"

     "You did a number on me...dying a bit...I'll be fine...hopefully."

     "I didn't-"

     "Don't...goodbye...and good luck."

     Return.

     Everything blended to nothingness.

Author's Note

Any suggestions, criticisms, or questions are welcomed. Thank you for reading.