Chapter 6 - Violent Energy
Lily lay on the bed naked, hugging a pillow tightly, asleep. When her eyes opened up, she released the pillow, then leaned up against the bedhead. Her eyes scanned around the room, finding her clothes laying scattered around, but no sign of Vill or his clothes was found. When her eyes landed on the table across, a small piece of paper was seen on the otherwise empty table.
Lily went over and picked up the paper. It said, "Sorry... but gotta skip on you. Unfortunately, I've got a few plans of my own. Anyhow, thanks for returning what rightfully belongs to me. Hopefully in due time, I might repay you."
Putting the paper back on the table, Lily smiled.
---
The Vintlet Forest,
Vill walked through the woods, carrying a bag on his back. In his hand he had a book opened to a page with a drawn map.
"Vintlet Forest..." Vill said, "A forest sheltering a vast amount of different wild animals... But no noted signs of any sky-origin beasts or any such clans... If I were to cross this forest at a steady pace, minimizing the time spent on sleep, I'll get to Withellton in roughly eight to ten days... That's twenty days less than taking the civilized, safe roundabout way."
"Hmm... 'Risk-Taker' might not be my middle name, but I sure as hell need to take some for a enormous advantage," Vill patted his sword, "Besides, with my soulmate by my side, I doubt any simple wild animal can do me much or—as a matter of fact— any harm... More-fucking-over, I'm gonna be a star-fucking-lord soon enough... That should be a tre-fucking-mendous plus..."
---
Three days later,
Under the moon's light, Vill sat beside a fire. By his side, lay the skinny carcass of a deceased rabbit. In Vill's hand was a chunk roasted meat, which he chomped down bite after bite.
After swallowing down the last bit of meat, Vill took out a leather bottle from his bag and gulped down a few mouthfuls water. Then he got up on his feet and kicked the fire, putting it out as the burning sticks were scattered.
Vill looked around. "Here should be more than far enough to call forth my rightful power without causing a public scene," he said, taking the star fragment out of his pocket, purpling the surrounding. "Let's hope... I don't get cucked this time around..." His eyes creased as he gazed around.
While clasping the hilt of his sword, Vill raised the fragment toward his neck; his eyes scanning around. When it reached over Vill's collarbone, it froze in place. Vill looked at it with puzzled eyes then released it from his hold. But instead of falling down, the glowing fragment remained in place, stuck in mid-air.
Then the fragment started to shine brighter and brighter as two chains sprouted out of the fragment's sides. The dainty, metallic chains extended out, going around Vill's neck, and meeting one other behind his neck. With the chains connected and complete, the fragment, now acting as a pendant, dropped down hanging on Vill's neck.
The pendant resting on Vill's shirt, then started to dim, losing its shine rapidly. And as it did, purple veins were seen spreading over Vill's visible skin quickly across his neck and toward his shoulders.
Vill screamed, "Mother-Fucker! That-Fucking-Tickles!" clenching his hands which were now infested with purple veins spread like roots.
The veins then spread on over Vill's neck creeping into his face, slowly seeping into his eyes. The white of his eyes started to purple, spreading from the sides toward the center. Vill's pupils shifted into a four-headed star, a blackish purple in color.
Vill's sight went blank, showing nothing but pure white.
---
Vill was standing in a place full of white. In all directions, he saw white except for the humanoid, purple figure which stood few meters away. It had no face, nor any other distinguishable features.
"Yo, you must be the star guy, here to skim me the tutorial..." Vill said.
"Greetings, my bearer, Vill," the figure said, "Let me introduce myself: I am Wruth, the star of violence. I happen to possess control over an out-of-control energy, namely— 'violent energy'."
"That sounds oddly ironic: controlling something out-of-control..." Vill said, "Anyhow, are you the actual star talking right now?"
"Technically... I am my conscience projected into your mind through the bridge made by your integration with my fragment."
"I see..." Vill scratched his chin, "I never bother to care about such details, but if stars are living beings with intelligence and such; then why would you 'bestow' your otherworldly powers onto other being like humans, whom you shouldn't really care about?"
"The answer is simple. It is true that we are living beings, but... we are not living beings like humans." Wruth said, "Till my fragment fell on the mortal world three years ago, I was not aware of my own existence... It was only when your hands touched my fragment that I generated a speck of sentience in me that has now developed immensely through observation and analysis. Since I can also copy essential wisdom from beings who've touched my fragment, like that girl named Lily, my intelligence is comparable to a human's now. We, stars, certainly are alive, but we are not like you humans, we are more like—"
"Trees," Vill added.
"Yes. Trees... Like trees we are immobile. It is only the universes laws which moves us across the skies... Since so, our powers have no use to us; we are nothing but massive loads of crystalline mass floating in space... But humans and other animals can make use of our power, they can wield it and while doing so bring us fame or in some cases shame. Like the three great stars for example; they probably are the proudest stars in the sky. So, I believe stars letting humans wield their power is mostly for their own sake; pride and reputation. As for me, I'm just doing what every other star is doing, and I also have a weird tendency to destroy everything."
"O-K..." Vill said, "If your intelligence is like you say only generated three years ago and since you said you can't use your powers yourself, how do you know your name and what your power is? Unless you've been told what your name is, and unless you've been shown what your power is, how would you know what they are? Did you perhaps come up with your own bad-ass name?"
"No," Wruth replied, "my name and my power is something I have known since the moment I gained my intelligence. Stars cannot talk to one other or talk to any other human besides their chosen bearer, at least I have not. So, there is no way I could have been told anything about myself. I do not know why; I just know those things. I believe it is how that works."
"That sounds convincing," Vill said, "So about the tutorial— can we get over with it?"
"Regrettably no, I cannot give you a tutorial. I do not understand my power amply enough to teach someone. Until I have seen it myself, I would not know the details of its functions. Even if I did know, I do not believe it can be explained with words. Practice is how all star lords and their descendants learn to control their stellar powers. I believe this is the case for the lunar and solar powers too."
"Fine then, why am I here wasting time?"
"To answer any question you may have, and to fulfill common courtesy."
