The Sixth School

Author's note.

1). Remember, your help in pointing out errors will help keep me from having to take long periods off to edit. Your help in this is much appreciated.

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All Characters in the story are 18 years of age and above...

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Chapter Eighty-Two: Elder...

"Got you!"

Judging by the way her eyes went wide with both shock and panic, Olivia's true self felt the connection form at the same time that Greg did. He didn't know how, but it would seem that all this time, Morpheus hadn't just been talking. Using the connection between Olivia's true self and her clone, he somehow followed it back to the true Olivia, creating a connection of his own that Olivia's true self couldn't as easily cut. All this time that he'd been exchanging threats with her, had been a ruse. A magician's misdirection. While one hand dazzled his audience, the other was busy with the actual trick. This left Greg questioning, had Morpheus been smiling because the observation that he didn't care about Greg was true? Or was it because he had succeeded in his underhanded play?

Greg immediately felt the tug on the new connection that had formed between Olivia's true self and them as the Primordial tried to break it. To her credit, the connection did start to break. The speed at which it was doing so, however, was slow enough that she'd need a few minutes to fully break it. It wasn't a ridiculous amount but in a fight at their level, it might as well have been forever. Morpheus had outmaneuvered her and they both knew it. Ignoring the thrashing of his prey, Morpheus raised Greg's right hand and began to carve into the air.

This wasn't a figure of speech, Greg could quite literally feel the fabric of reality acquiesce as Morpheus carved intricate words of power into it. Greg wasn't sure what it was he was writing. Olivia's true self, however, seemed to recognize what it was as her efforts to free herself of the bond became even more frantic the longer that Morpheus wrote. Detached as he was from his body, Greg didn't feel it directly. There was, however, an excruciating pain spreading out from the tip of his finger to the rest of his body. Whatever it was that Morpheus was putting together, was at such a level that Greg felt like his body was about to fall apart just from writing it out. His index finger started bleeding just a quarter of the way through. By the time he got to the halfway mark, The tip of his finger had been ground down to the bone. Three-quarters of the way there and his finger had been ground down to the first knuckle. All this while, Morpheus maintained a coldly indifferent demeanor as if the suffering of this body meant nothing to him.

"There is no irreconcilable enmity between us!" Olivia's true self finally spoke through her avatar. Morpheus had come to the end of whatever it was he'd been writing and only a small nub had been left of Greg's right index finger. Olivia's true self, on the other hand, had only managed to get halfway in her attempt to break the connection between them. While her tone was of one trying to be reasonable, no one present missed the dangerous edge in her voice. She had the crazed look of a wolf trying to decide whether or not to chew off its own leg to free itself from a trap. "We can stop here and I'll compensate you for the offense caused," She offered, trying to be diplomatic.

"Of course, you were just planning to get my eyes as a keepsake, weren't you?" Morpheus questioned, sarcasm dripping off every word. Everyone present knew that had Olivia's true self gotten hold of Morpheus's eyes she would have killed him with zero hesitation. "You were just joking when you threatened to destroy the boy's soul, weren't you?" He continued in the same tone, no longer looking at the familiar but down at the nub that used to be Greg's index finger. Greg, who had been fearing that Morpheus would leave his finger damaged, let out a figurative sigh of relief when he noticed it start to grow back.

The process was slow and somehow even more painful than writing out the strange words of power had been. In a manner that he couldn't quite understand, Greg got the feeling that the very world around him was objecting to the restoration of this digit. It was as if, the very laws of the world dictated that this digit had been destroyed and Morpheus's efforts to heal it were in defiance of those laws. This, however, didn't seem to bother Morpheus in the least as he continued his work. Greg suspected that there was an overlap between the way he and the way Morpheus saw the world. Otherwise, he had no way of explaining what he was seeing. It was a lot like looking at an object and seeing a chair and a tree at the same time. On the one hand, Greg watched as first, bone broke through the nub, sprouting like a young plant. Once it had reached the right length, the flesh around the nub slowly started crawling forward to cover it.

But while this is what it looked like on one level, on another, Greg was looking at a strange string of characters occupying the same space that his finger once did. It was as if rather than a finger, someone had used this strange language to define what a finger is and what it should do. Whatever this language was, however, it seemed capable of defining reality as was evidenced by the fact that, as soon as the string of characters was complete, his finger was once again in its place as if nothing had ever happened to it. Greg remained tense throughout the process, fearing that something would go wrong. Luckily nothing did. His index finger had been destroyed at the level of law and Morpheus had restored it at the same level.

When Morpheus turned to once again look in Olivia's direction, a smile crossed Greg's features. Greg doubted that Olivia's true self was aware that she was projecting her emotions through her clone. This was the only explanation Greg could come up with as he saw no benefit for the Primordial in making her avatar appear white as a sheet of paper. "Y... you know the language of creation?" The words left Olivia's lips in a stammer. Greg doubted that the Primordial had ever been forced to stammer in all her life. There was, however, no faking the bone-deep fear that seemed to have taken hold of her.

"Interesting, I wouldn't expect a child like you to recognize it," Morpheus answered. Greg knew that Olivia's true self was probably tens of thousands of years old, as such, it felt odd to have her called a child. If he was to be believed, however, Morpheus's jail sentence alone had been more than seven hundred thousand years. And so, in a way, it did make sense that he'd think of the Primordial as a child. "Tell me, have you ever experienced a curse fashioned from the language of creation?" he questioned. The words were spoken in such a cordial tone that it would have been all too easy to miss the fact that it was a threat.

"Elder, this child has shown herself foolish. Please, be magnanimous and show mercy. Do not sully your esteemed self on account of a worm such as I!" There was no doubt in Greg's mind that if Olivia hadn't been pinned to the wall by Morpheus's power, she would have been on the ground prostrating before Morpheus. The fear that had been in her voice had morphed into abject despair. Greg got the impression of one who had pulled on the tail of what they thought to be a serpent only to find that it was a dragon. When she descended, the Primordial had been threatening Morpheus with death. Now, however, there wasn't even a hint of fight in her voice. It was as if she believed any attempt to resist on her part would be futile and Morpheus could take her life whenever he so wished.

There was a long silence following the Primordial's plea as Morpheus seemed to be contemplating his next action. In the end, a sigh left Greg's lips as Morpheus waved a hand and dispelled the words of power that had been hanging in midair. "A first offense can be forgiven," He said with the air of one who'd chosen to not deal with a bothersome chore. His voice, however, turned glacial as he added, "A second one won't!" The hard note of finality in his tone of voice told Greg that this wasn't an empty threat by Morpheus. If the Primordial did try something else, he would stop at nothing to see her eliminated.

"Thank you, Elder. This child won't forget your kindness," Olivia immediately answered. Once again, Greg got the impression that it was only because she was being held in place that she wasn't groveling on the ground.

"My time, however, has been wasted. How will you compensate me?" Morpheus questioned. There wasn't a moment of hesitation on the Primordial's part as Greg noticed the Mana Sight reward card shift. The eye composed of arcane symbols vanished and in its place was just a number.

41,000,000 Lust points.

Cost: 0 Lust points.

Receive?

Yes/No

It didn't take a lot of calculation on Greg's part for him to realize that forty-one million was the cost of the remaining four cards after one took away the mana sight card. Even the ten million lust points that he had spent buying the personal pocket space had been refunded.

"That is good compensation to the boy for the life span he's lost. But you should already know that none of the trinkets that your soul seed offers are of any worth to me!" Morpheus coldly stated.

"Of course," Came the immediate answer from Olivia's true self, there wasn't even a hint of anger or dissatisfaction on her face or tone as she spoke. "You only need ask and I'll do my best to fulfill your wishes," She stated. Said in any other context, Greg would have been certain that the Primordial was trying to make a pass at the one being spoken to. Looking at her, however, Greg could tell that the words held no subtext, they were simply meant as spoken and nothing more.

"Three times. I will call on you three times to help me accomplish a task, and you will answer!" Morpheus declared.

"As you will," the Primordial replied.

"Perform well in these tasks, and I might even help guide you in your apotheosis," Morpheus continued. "That's what you are aiming at with the soul seeds, isn't it?" He calmly asked, with the air of one who already knew the answer to the question he was posing. There was a look of shock on Olivia's face as if she hadn't expected Morpheus to so easily see through her. This, however, was quickly followed by acceptance as if she should have expected no less from the being before her. There was increased reverence in her eyes for Morpheus. On his part, Morpheus just smiled like an elder would to a child. "I've seen enough attempts both successful and unsuccessful to easily work out what this is. You've reached the limit of your growth and power as a Primordial and are unable to grow in power aren't you?" He posed rhetorically. Without awaiting an answer, he continued "Yours is among the more creative approaches to breaking through the barrier to become a deity that I've seen, I admit. But you should already know the odds of success in such an endeavor," Morpheus stated

"Where one succeeds, ten thousand fail," Olivia's true self said. Greg could immediately tell that these weren't her own words. Instead, they felt like something that she'd heard repeated many times and was just quoting.

"Exactly," Came the calm answer from Morpheus. "With my help, however, you can sharply increase your chances of breaking through that barrier. Prove yourself useful to me, and it might mean the difference between success and failure," Morpheus declared.

"I will give my all," Came the firm promise from Olivia's true self.

"See that you do," Morpheus answered with the carefree tone of one who didn't care one way or the other. "If there is nothing else, then you are free to go. Just know that you are the only one who knows of my presence here. If word spreads, I will know exactly who to look for," Once again, the way the words were so calmly spoken could have easily led one to miss the implied threat. But by the look in Olivia's eyes, Greg could tell that she hadn't.

"Elder, one last thing," the Primordial politely spoke up.

"What is it?" Morpheus answered.

"Will the boy remember this interaction?" She asked.

Greg immediately understood why she'd need to ask such a question. After what had just taken place, if Greg hadn't known before, he would have figured out that Olivia was just a clone of a far more powerful being. It would lead to fear and suspicion from Greg that would hinder their relationship going forward. If Olivia tried to act like she had before, it would only deepen the suspicion as Greg would know that this wasn't the way the real Olivia acted. On the other hand, if she leaned on acting like her true self, it would just increase the fear, leaving her in a no-win situation.

"No. Your clone can keep acting as it always has. The boy won't remember what he doesn't need to," Morpheus replied.

There wasn't even a hint of doubt on Olivia's face as she acknowledged Morpheus's words with a small smile before Olivia's body went limp. She had passed out as she usually did every time her original took control of her. It seems that nothing had changed even with the connection being a remote one. Before Greg could do anything about it, however, he too felt himself fall into darkness as Morpheus relinquished control. He too wasn't meant to house such a powerful being...

***

There was a moment of confusion and panic when Greg awoke behind the wheel of a moving car. It didn't take him long, however, to figure out that he'd been brought into another memory by Morpheus. Greg looked out of the driver-side window at the crescent moon high in the sky. His gaze then moved to the sparse trees on either side of the road as he tried to figure out where he was. Greg was aware that Morpheus pulled these scenes from his memories of his previous life, as such, he was certain that this was a drive he'd made before. It didn't take long for the pieces to fall into place as Greg's eyes widened and his grip tightened around the steering wheel as he remembered that this was the night he died. He'd driven to a friend's house, stayed till late, and chosen to drive back home. Based on the surroundings, Greg knew that he was only a couple of minutes away from the intersection where he met his end. After the initial panic, however, Greg slowly calmed as he remembered the fact that he'd already died and this was just a memory. He wasn't going to die a second time. Still, it was a dick move by Morpheus.

"I take it that you are not happy with me," Greg spoke, turning to regard the orange traffic cone that was for some reason on the passenger side of the car. The cone didn't answer, instead, it just morphed into a frying pan with a two-egg omelet cooked sunny side up and a strip of bacon curved downward, making a frowning face. Greg let out a sigh even as he turned back to the road. It was always easy to forget Olivia's admonition about such powerful beings. The idea that they were always solemn, serious, and thoughtful beings was just a projection of people onto them. Yes, they could be all those things, but they could also just as easily act in the most irrational and immature ways. The only thing that could be said about such beings is that they were powerful, anything else was purely up to the whims of those beings at the time.

"Would you have stopped her if she tried to kill me?" Greg found himself asking after a while of silence had passed between them.

There was a long silence before Morpheus spoke up. "Your words were right, Greg. Pawn you may be, but you were my mother's pawn first. The reason the Primordial came after us this time is because of my actions during your ascension. If the Primordial killed you and I did nothing, the fault for your death would have been laid at my feet. Even if I somehow survived the Primordial, I would have had to answer to my mother. I already went against her once before with the help of seventy other deities and my eyes were all that were left of that stupid mistake. The last thing I'd ever do is repeat it, least of all by myself," he laid out. The traffic cone didn't have any mouth or human features on it, it was just a normal traffic cone, and yet, Morpheus's voice came from it.

"Don't you mean eyes?" Greg replied fighting to keep a straight face. When Morpheus, now in the form of a red balloon with a confused expression drawn on it, turned to him, Greg clarified. "Don't you mean that fault for my death would have been laid at your eyes?" he asked, unable to suppress the laugh that tore out of him. It was a petty jab, but it was Greg's payback for being brought back to this traumatic event. The eyes drawn on the balloon rolled before the thing turned to direct the face away from Greg. "So, what is it that you wrote in the air, and why did it scare the Primordial so much?" Greg eventually asked.

"A writ of eternal servitude," Morpheus answered simply causing Greg's eyes to go wide with shock. "The reason she was so afraid of it is because it has the power to make her my eternal slave without any hope of ever being free," he added.

Greg's shock quickly turned to confusion as he found himself asking. "Why didn't you make her your eternal slave?"

Repugnant as the idea of slavery was in his past life, Greg wasn't anywhere near naïve enough to believe that the people in this new world operated by the same principles, especially given the presence of magic. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The very fact that Morpheus could write out such a contract was in itself evidence that such things as eternal servitude did exist in this world. If he could have made the Primordial his slave, Greg knew that Morpheus would never have settled for just three requests. That he failed to do so could only be because something had kept him from doing so.

Morpheus, now in the form of a plushie cat, proved Greg's suspicions right as he answered. "As you so astutely pointed out, I'm just a pair of eyes, Greg. I have nowhere near the amount of power I'd need to enforce such a contract on a being like her. If I had tried to use it on her, more than likely, it would have backfired on us making us her eternal servants," He stated candidly.

Greg couldn't help the cold chill that crept down his back as he learned just how close he'd come to being made into a slave. Gaining a second life just to be made into someone's slave would have been a fate worse than just being left dead. "My finger!" Greg exclaimed, unconsciously looking at his right index finger as something clicked in his mind. "That was the message," He voiced what he'd just figured out. Right from the start, Morpheus had said he wasn't planning to fight. He only wished to send a message. But if Morpheus already knew that he had no hope of subjugating the Primordial using the writ of eternal servitude, then it would make no sense for him to waste both power and energy writing it out. That is unless writing it out served an entirely different purpose from the one that seemed obvious on the surface.

Looking back, even after Morpheus had written out the slave contract, Olivia's true self hadn't been cowed into submission. While she had offered to compensate Morpheus for any offense caused, she still had been ready to fight if it came to that. It wasn't until she'd watched Morpheus healing Greg's lost finger that she was shocked into submission. Rather than turning the Primordial into a slave, what if the purpose of writing out the slave contract was actually to destroy Greg's finger at the level of law? After all, just cutting off his finger wouldn't have warranted the kind of healing Morpheus demonstrated. It was precisely because Morpheus needed a chance to demonstrate that he knew the language of creation, as Olivia's true self had called it, that the slave contract had been necessary.