Little by little, his consciousness returned to him. The darkness before him slowly shifted towards a golden light. Everything that happened before he lost consciousness returned to him. The last thing he remembered was the face of Gaya. The memories abruptly awakened him. Suddenly the breath of life returned to him as he sat up.
As far as he could see, there was nothing but golden reeds.
”Is this heaven?” he thought in his mind while getting back to his feet. He tried to summon the system except there was no sign of the system within him.
”I wish”
A kind voice sounded from behind. Michael turned back in a flash to see a black-robed youngster who wore a gentle smile on his face.
”Abras”
The one standing in front of him was none other than Abras. Michael and Abras looked alike except Michael’s current self was more mature, tall, and muscular.
”Michael” Abras smiled,
”Beautiful isn’t it?” Abras looked around the golden reeds,
”What’s happening?” Michael stepped towards Abras and joined him in the sightseeing.
Countless questions wreaking havoc in his mind.
Where am I?
What is this place?
How am I seeing Abras?
Why does this feel so real?
Is this a dream?
Am I dead?
These were some of the questions he asked himself.
”Are you confused Michael? When I learned we are the same person, I was confused too” Abras spoke in a calm manner,
”But I made peace with you, we became one and we were one until you chose to become the Dark Lord”
”I…we didn’t make that choice, it was made for us. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here, would we?”
It was extremely difficult for Michael to accept that Abras and he were the same person. It didn’t feel that way.
”Until you make peace, we will remain as pieces,” Abras said as he read Michael’s thoughts.
”Peace? Peace with what?” asked Michael. He turned his head to see Abras still looking at the ocean of golden reeds in front of them,
”You and I are the same”
The moment these words escaped Abras’s mouth, the golden scenery lost all of its lusters. Everything became dark and gloomy,
Following the change in the scary, the familiar demonic voice echoed through the golden reed fields.
”FOOL!”
They both turned back to see Lucifer, in his complete form enveloped in a shroud of dark smoke and crimson red eyes emerging from the ground beneath.
Unlike Michael and Abras, Lucifer stood almost towering eight feet tall.
”Lucifer, the last piece of our soul” Abras introduced Lucifer to Michael as though Michael did not know him.
”Finally we meet face to face, Michael” Lucifer’s eyes flared up in red flames.
”I am confused as fuck. We are supposed to be the same person yet it feels nothing like that” Michael sighed as he tried to make sense of this situation.
”System”
Michael called out the system in his mind,
”Don’t bother, the system cannot help you. It’s probably sick of you two losers” Lucifer growled,
”We received such a powerful weapon and yet, we are still getting our ass handed over to us by puny humans. You are unworthy of such power” Lucifer completely ignored Abras and vented his anger at Michael.
He then dashed at Michael and punched him,
”Argh!”
The punch landed on Michael because Lucifer was too fast. However, when he punched Michael, he shouted and so did Michael and Abras.
”We are the same,” Abras groaned. The punch pushed the three of them in a separate direction. When each stood up, they noticed they were standing in a triangle.
”Your focus on mortal pleasures and inability to get stronger has brought this upon us” Lucifer clenched his fist as the surroundings became darker and darker,
”Instead of putting all the blame on me, why don’t you take charge? After all, we are the same right, why are you talking to me like I’m the one controlling the both of you”
”Because when our soul was shattered, the largest piece of the soul went to earth, you” Abras sighed as he began to explain,
”That’s why you always remain in control and I feel like a different person to you”
”It should have been me” Yet again lucifer growled,
”Makes sense” Finally something made sense to Michael. In his mind, he simplified Abras’s explanation. In mathematical terms, he was 50% of the soul while Abras and Lucifer were only 25% each. Thus, he remained in control of the body as well as the other pieces of the soul.
”I was on earth, you” Michael looked at Abras,
”You were in the sanctuary,”
Then he turned to look at Lucifer,
”But where were you?”
”Within both of you fools, experiencing both your pathetic lives. Do you know how it feels to be caged and do nothing? When both of you died, I thought I would be finally free but no, I got caged again. This time, I will end both of you and take the system for myself. With that ultimate power, I can conquer this world and everything in this universe”
”And then what?” Abras asked,
”You will bring nothing but death and chaos to the world. Michael doesn’t listen to him, we don’t have to walk the path he would choose. We have everything a man needs to be happy, a job, a woman who loves us dearly, and people who would shed tears for us. It’s enough”
”You are pathetic. A woman betrayed you and put a dagger through your heart. A job and a woman, humph. We are born to be a god and gods must bring their wrath upon the mortals to get their loyalty and undying devotion. Give me the system and the control of your being to me. It’s time the system had a worthy user”
Michael was stuck between Lucifer and Abras. If Abras was one extreme, Lucifer was another extreme. Lucifer hated him and wanted to go on a killing spree with the help of the system while Abras wanted to settle down and live a peaceful life. Both of their wishes were unrealistic.
”You wasted the system’s potential. We were supposed to be the overpowered god walking among mortals. But you chose to indulge yourself in mere mortal pleasures, care for humans and recruit weaklings as your subordinates. Gods don’t need subordinates, gods don’t need plans, gods don’t need alliances, we only need power and you are too weak to get stronger” Lucifer walked towards Michael step by step,
”Our old enemies are getting stronger by the day. New powerful enemies are emerging from the darkest corners. You being cautious, making alliances, and living a fake life as Ghost will only let us get killed. Surrender yourselves to me”
”No” Abras stepped forward,
”If you listen to him, he will turn us into everything and prove the Skyhall and the guardians are right. Leave everything behind you Michael, we can live peacefully in a corner of this world, the system can hide us, we can be normal, for the first time in our lives, we can have a family”
”THIS IMBECILE!” Lucifer lunged at Abras and before either of them could react, Lucifer punched Abras in the chest.
Yet again the trio was sent flying like kites in the storm. Michael felt an excruciating pain in his chest but no blood came out of him.
”We are not killers and bringer of darkness Michael” Abras groaned as he picked himself to his feet,
”We are not a weakling and a beta like him” Lucifer shouted from the other side.
Stuck between the both of them, Michael just closed his eyes. The words they spoke to him flashed across his mind once again. When he opened his eyes, the darkness disappeared as the golden luster came back to the scenery.
”You are both right and wrong” Michael let out a deep breath,
”Lucifer you are right when you said I’m not using the system to its full potential, you are right when you said living a fake life as Ghost will only get us killed”
The dark cloud shrouding Lucifer slowly started to fade away as he was making peace with the Lucifer soul piece.
”But you are wrong about needing no subordinates, no alliances, and mortal pleasures. You yourself said we have new enemies appearing and old enemies getting stronger day by day. We cannot defeat them by being alone. I am not a God yet and even gods need subordinates to do their bidding”
Lucifer tried to essay something but raised his hand as no sound came out of Lucifer’s mouth. As the majority soul holder, Michael started to fully realize his power and exerted his power over Lucifer.
He then turned his gaze at Abras,
”You are right, we are not bringer of darkness, I found a girl who loves me more than anything. But you are still naive Abras, we can’t live peacefully, not now, not soon, not ever. You did nothing wrong and look what happened to you, you were betrayed, your mistake cost you everyone you ever loved. When I’m done, no one will be in our way to a life you’ve dreamed of. Both of you will get what you want”
Michael exerted his power over both of them. He raised his arms at both of them as a powerful force pulled Lucifer and Abras towards Michael.
”If we don’t come to peace with each other, neither of us will live long to get anything we want”
”I only want a peaceful life” Abras was the first to speak. The gentle smile on his face returned and he looked to be at peace,
”I want our enemies to suffer, this world to fall on its knees before us and everything we desire” Lucifer’s tone was more demanding rather than requesting. It made sense, after all, he was more of a maniac and devilish.
”We are the same. No more broken pieces. WE ARE MICHAEL….WE ARE ABRAS…WE ARE THE DARK LORD!”
Michael screamed at the sky, his voice became the mix of Abras and Lucifer. Soon, the cloud shrouding Lucifer abandoned him and began to envelop Michael.
”WE ARE ONE”
This time, both Lucifer and Abras said in unison. The very next moment, Lucifer and Abras turned into an orb of light and flew straight into Michael.
”Human…Michael…please wake up…don’t leave me…”
”Ghosty…Ghosty…”
Michael heard the voices of Gaya and Nightmare in the distance,
”Argh”
Back on the desolate mountain where Elidry was caged, Michael sat up.
”Human!” Gaya’s scream nearly broke his eardrum and her hug broke his rib cage. Elidyr squatted before him before putting his hand on Michael’s shoulder.
”You did it… your soul is now whole again”