Lake of Souls Chapter 11

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I examined the giant stone door in front of me. For as tall as I was it was just a bit taller. I placed my hands on the door and pushed with all my might but nothing moved. I frowned slightly and pushed again, actually grunting with my effort but nothing happened. I stopped and began to examine the door more closely looking for any sign or symbol. I thought I saw something in the middle of the door and so I wiped my hands over it removing dust from it. I revealed six symbols. Five in a circle and then there was one in the middle. As I looked at them I realized the symbols in a circle were for each of the kingdoms and the one in the middle was the same as the one on my chest.

I touched my fingers against the symbol of the fire kingdom and I felt his soul leave my body and fill the symbol before being released. The symbol lit up bright as an active volcano as my body shrank considerably. I lost about half my height and muscle. I was suddenly weighted down by my blade, so I took a moment to shrug it off before continuing. Next I brushed my fingers against the earth kingdom symbol and the same thing happened. The symbol turning a bright verdant green as the color of a full forest in summer light. My body shrank another foot and my muscle mass was now massively decreased. I was almost back to my original shape at this point but I still felt light and fluid.

Next came the symbol of the air kingdom, again the same thing. The symbol goes a faint white and seemed to dance around in its little spot on the door. Now my body felt more normal though still somewhat fluid in my movements. My fingers brushed against the symbol of the water kingdom and I smiled watching it fill before his soul flew free. The symbol turned a light blue much like what the ocean had looked like when I left it. I watched it fly off, "Go and be with your Queen at last. Sorry I kept her waiting so long for you." Now the life kingdom symbol was touched and the lightness and brevity I had felt from the soul it faded away. The symbol is light pink and looking at it just made me smile for some reason.

My body now was my own again. Apparently in giving away the King's souls I also have away all the others I had taken in on my journey. I suddenly felt heavy and something that almost seemed like a tired sensation. This was all a very new sensation for me and yet it didn't upset me. If anything it made me happy to feel more like a "normal" person. There was one more symbol left to light up and so I did. As I touched it the symbol on my chest slowly faded away. The symbol on the door filled in with a deep black that somehow managed to stick out even against the black stone.

When it was done the door cracked down the middle and began to open. At the same time all strength that had been in my body completely disappeared. I collapsed to the ground as if the weight of all my injuries were suddenly catching up to me. I looked up watching the door open. As it did, a brilliant blue light came from behind the door, almost blinding me. I closed my eyes against the light and began crawling my way forward. The entirety of my lower body refused to work anymore and my arms were barely moving me. Eyes still closed I inched bit by bit forward.

I heard a familiar voice ahead of me, "My my. You finally make it and now you can't even walk. What an absolute shame. Also before you ask I will not help you get to the lake. I have provided all the assistance that I can. This part you have to do on your own. Now crawl Xea! Crawl with all your strength."

Slowly and gingerly I opened my eyes looking around me as much as I could, which wasn't a lot at this point. It was just like it had been everytime I had died, nothing was out of place. The god was sitting on a black throne made from the same material as the dome off to my right. He had his legs crossed and was watching me intently with a cruel smile on his lips. Somehow I knew he was delighting in my misery at this moment. I turned my attention away from him to focus back on the lake which was still probably fifteen feet away.

Every movement of my arms caused my whole body to scream in protest. It was only now that I realized I was dragging myself against the sharp stones of the ground, they were probably cutting into me. It was in this moment that I was so glad all I could feel was the pressure and not the pain that accompanied it. Little by little I continued forward feeling the familiar sensation of blacking out sneaking up on me when the good spoke again, "Oh by the way if you die here I can't resurrect you so don't go dying on me now." He chuckled to himself and I could hear him getting up out of his chair and walking away, "This is rather boring to watch. Either get to the lake or die but I won't sit and watch the whole thing."

Something about his casual disdain for my suffering was the push I needed. I started crawling faster now, getting closer to the edge of the lake. My vision tunneled till I could barely see in front of me but I knew all I needed to do was keep pushing forward. I heard the god stop walking and I assumed he looked back, "Well look at you. I guess you got a little fight left after all. Only a couple more feet Xea and then you finally get your soul." I made the final push forward, felt my right hand dip over the edge, and then my fingertips brush the water.

Immediately electricity coursed through my body waking me up completely. My vision came back fully and I watched in horror as some sort of black sludge was filling the lake. I could see the souls in the lake becoming weighted down in the darkness. I turned my head to look at the god but he was paying no attention to me now. He was staring at the lake in fascination muttering to himself just loud enough for me to hear, "Well I'll admit I didn't expect that. Rather interesting indeed." I turned back to the lake now seeing it had become completely filled with the inky thick blackness. My fingertips still in the water began to feel very odd. I tried to lift my hand to look at it but I found that it was now stuck in the lake.

I pushed myself a little further forward to look over the edge at my hand. As I laid eyes on it something new happened. All of the only blackness began to flow into me. For the first time ever I felt pain. I screamed in pure agony, my whole body writhing and twisting with the sensations. I felt every death and injury I had suffered in my journey seemingly all at once. Every stab, burn, fall, and crushing that had happened to me. I don't know how long I laid there screaming as tears ran freely down my face but eventually I passed out.

When I woke up the first thing I noticed was that I was still in pain, every bone, muscle, and joint screeching at me in protest. However I could finally move now and so I did. As I pushed myself up the next thing I noticed was that the god was nowhere to be found. I wondered how long I had been passed out for. Finally I looked at the lake and gasped in surprise. It was gone, completely and utterly gone. There wasn't even a drop of water left. That was when the next thing hit me. I realized I suddenly understood the different feelings that I had felt on my journey.

Immediately they overtook me. I began howling with laughter. A true joyous laugh thinking of when I had met the god. How he had given me a purpose and something to strive for. That finally my life had meaning. Immediately I was assaulted by the white hot rage of anger. I slammed my fists on the ground screaming thinking of both the Fire and Air Kings. How they had treated me without a second thought as if I were lesser than them simply because I was a vessel. I kept slamming my fists down until I suddenly noticed that they hurt even more now and I was bleeding from dozens of tiny cuts. I stared at my hands in wonder now. They were giant compared to the tiny form I had been in. From the looks of it I was almost back to the same size I had been when I had all the King's souls in me.

That wonder transitioned into thoughts of the earth and life kingdom. The feeling of the grass under my feet and how truly amazing it had felt. I began to weep at the sheer beauty of the things I had seen. Tears flowed so freely that I lost all sight except for the water falling from my face. Soon my tears turned to those of sadness as I thought about what I had done to the Water King. After I almost thought I was done my tears came back fresh in new torrents as my mind drifted onto Baunt. He had been the first being on my journey that I could call a friend and then he was killed in front of me.

I trashed and rolled around on the ground for what seemed like days. My brain and emotions all trying to catch up on the mourning I hadn't experienced. I screamed out Baunt's name several times in my wild madness. Suddenly it all stopped. I suddenly found clarity in the midst of it all. The feelings of sadness were still there and I would carry them for the rest of my life. However now they weren't just a burden weighing me down. They were a memory and an experience. Something to hold on to when I wanted to protect those closest to me. Remember that pain and suffering and how I would never want to experience it again or make another being experience it.

As I laid on the ground staring at the ceiling I shed one last tear for the Earth King. While I hadn't exactly liked him by the time I killed him, he was the one to recognize that I wasn't just a vessel. He was the one to actually give me a name. For that and that alone did he hold a special place in my heart. I sat up now thinking once again that I was done when depression hit. My head hung all the way down to the middle of my chest as I thought about the countless atrocities I had committed just to get here. My heart felt heavy not from sadness but from pain. Everything I had done had been with a reason. I wasn't cruel for the sake of it but that didn't change the fact that I had done awful things. I had killed when it wasn't needed. I had delighted in killing which I never should have done.

I sat there staring at the floor. Time seemed to stop for me, not that it really mattered anymore. I had all these dreams that I was going to help the people of this world. That was what the Life King had told me and I had believed him like a fool. How was someone like me going to lead anyone into a new era of peace? I was a killer first and foremost. I had sought out and killed the five Kings out of my own selfish desires. In the midst of my falling through the darkness I heard a voice call out, "You are our hero Xea." I strained my ears trying to remember the voice when it hit me, it was Curant. The people of the water kingdom viewed me as a hero and so did the people of the life kingdom. Baunt had seen me for who I really was and accepted me. So had the little girl in the fire kingdom and even the Earth King accepted me. I had committed terrible acts but I had also performed great acts of compassion and kindness.

I slowly lifted my head, my mind twisting and turning on itself. I was a cruel awful person capable of great kindness. These things made no sense and yet they were true. I slowly stood up knowing that I would never fully get past this moment. That sometimes I would just stop and be overwhelmed by these feelings, but that was okay. As long as I kept getting back up and pushing forward that was what mattered at the end of the day and not let these feelings keep me down forever. Before I could begin walking I noticed something that somehow I had not noticed this entire time. My skin coloration had changed. I was no longer simply a dark being who could perfectly melt into shadows. Now my skin was a shimmering blue much like what the lake had looked like. I couldn't see souls swimming in me though I could feel that now my body contained innumerable souls. I wondered if somehow I had become the lake. I started walking out of the dome now finally ready to embrace my new fate when the god suddenly appeared in front of me, "Finally over it are we? All caught up on those pesky feelings. Good because you and I have work to do."

I reached my right arm out and casually slapped him into a wall as I continued to walk, "No. I have a world to go fix now. I broke it and now I need to help repair it. After that we can talk and scheme all you want, but your puppet no longer has strings." I heard him slam into the wall with a grunt. I didn't spare him a glance as I went and collected my blade. Wincing slightly in pain as I slung it over my shoulder.

I felt the pressure of the god before he hit me, but I still couldn't respond fast enough. I was suddenly struck in the back with enough force to drive me to the ground. After that I felt him spit on me, "How dare you Xea? I give you a soul so that I can keep resurrecting you after every stupid mistake you made and this is how you repay me? You insolent child!"

I slowly pushed myself up with a groan. I was already missing the days when I didn't feel pain. Once I was up I turned around to face the god anger creeping into my voice, "Two questions. First you gave me a soul and you still sent me on this quest? Second, what happened to the lake?"

The god started laughing at me, "As to your first question. I gave you a temporary soul. Just something to tether you to me so I could keep resurrecting you. It still didn't fit you properly so it wouldn't have worked for you anyway. Your second question has a simple answer actually. You absorbed it all into you. I hadn't exactly anticipated that happening but it still achieved the same result. I thought you would merely corrupt the lake and make it useless. Instead you turned around and just became the lake. However now any new children born will be born like you. Merely a vessel lacking a soul."

I blinked in shock and then the anger hit like a freight train. I started to free my sword from its sheath but then stopped and took a deep breath, "Before I seek to separate your head from the rest of your body answer me this. You said before this was to get revenge on your brothers. How does me absorbing and becoming the lake accomplish that?"

The god laughed again looking at my blade. I could tell he was trying to laugh off my suggestion of killing him but something about the blade made him nervous. Finally he spoke, "Simply put, now that you've absorbed the lake my brothers will notice. They'll come back here to find out what happened. When they do, I'm finally going to punish them for ignoring me all these years." With that the god turned and stalked away while saying one last thing, "So start fixing your planet Xea. Because it's about to become a battleground for the gods."

So first of all I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been with me on this journey. A month ago I set out to do a fully expanded version of the original short story "Lake of Souls" and with this chapter I have done that. However Xea's story is not done yet. So this will not be the final chapter. From here we will be delving into completely new territory. I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter. If you did then please heart, subscribe, and feel free to leave a tip. Till next time. The next chapter and the original short story will be linked below.

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Original Short Story