Psychoverse

by Jamie Hawke

  And none of them had emotions. That told me all I needed to know.

  “Moving forward is never the wrong choice,” I replied, and continued on.

  Only, as I entered this other room they were ahead of me again, as if I had entered the same room I had just left. Dammit, I hated that sort of mind game.

  My team turned on me, eyes going black, a darkness that then ran down like tears of black blood.

  “Fucking hell,” I said, shaking my head, and then noticed the core stones behind them.

  “Not yet,” the other me said, and they took defensive stances.

  “I have to fight you?” I asked, imagining this would be a more difficult choice if I didn’t have the emotional tell showing me that this wasn’t a real version of them… or myself.

  “Do your worst,” other-Cheri said, and laughed as she ran at me with sword drawn. The others prepared, moving around us as she charged. My baton moved up to block her stroke, only to find a knee connecting with my groin. Not fair—Cheri wouldn’t do that to me. But at least I understood how this was going down.

  Trying to hold myself together in spite of the pain that threatened to implode my lower abdomen, I rolled into her, catching her legs with mine and then scissor-kicking to bring her to the ground. Erupa attempted a shadow strike, but I had rolled over to Cheri and put her in the way, at the same time grabbing Erupa by the horns and slamming their faces together.

  “Fuck!” Cheri shouted as Erupa went momentarily limp.

  I was up, shoving them aside and swiping at the tiny form of Tink as she fluttered about, casting pixie dust my way. To avoid it, I covered my mouth with my shirt under my cracked armor, sticking close to Mer and Hinru—I knew that Tink wouldn’t risk using it on her own. Again, I was proven wrong, or shown that these weren’t my real teammates. This Tink didn’t give a fuck, and soon Mer and Hinru were attacking each other as well as everyone else in the room. Other-Mer began eating Erupa, while Hinru tried for a few shots at me before instead turning to blow a couple of shots through Cheri’s mid-section and then her face.

  Even though I knew this wasn’t my real team, seeing this shit made me sick. It also served to remind me that I needed to end this as quickly as possible. Going for the other version of me, I exchanged blows with my arc baton connecting with his, even at one point going hand-to-hand. Damn, I hit hard, I realized as other-me connected with hook to my left obliques and then an uppercut to the chin. I stumbled back, saw Mer coming for me, and managed to sidestep her and send her toward other-me.

  “Don’t do this,” Tink said, fluttering down around my face and looking very much like the real her. “We can still leave this place, together. Be free of the temple, the stones…”

  THWACK! I made contact, sending an arc of electricity through her as I did, and then continued through with a good push kick that stomped her into the wall. Gooey nastiness stuck, but then Hinru plowed into me, blaster held up to my face, and I had to roll to give her my back. I thrust my head into her face, gave her a backward elbow, then jammed the baton into her mouth before sending electricity into her. The smell was like burnt bacon.

  Her blaster fell into my hand and, having seen what it did to the others, I used it to finish off the rest. There I was, blaster glowing in my hand, my team all dead. Fuck, I hoped to Oram that I was right about them being fakes and this was all part of the test. It had to be, but in that moment, doubt worked its way up in the form of bile at the back of my throat.

  To my relief, it all flashed away and I was back in the hall again, just me and Krigo.

  “You have demonstrated your willingness to do what it takes,” Krigo said.

  “Nothing you can throw my way will stop me.”

  “In that case, continue, young monk,” Krigo told me, stepping out of the way to a door at the end of the tunnel. “Find these stones, claim them, and join us. We have been waiting for this day.”

  I stepped out into the bright light, shielding my eyes as they adjusted. Spray from the waterfall circled me, blowing in the wind along with white cherry blossom petals.

  “All that time, and I never stopped thinking about you.” Eloise leaned against the rocks, spray from the waterfall dampening her robes, causing them to cling to her body. After a moment, she adjusted her robes, not to cover herself better, but so that the curve of her breast and even the point of her nipple were clear. “Did you… think of me, too?”

  I gulped, watching intently as her gown fell around her shoulders, then to the ground. The light streaming down between clouds gave her skin a gentle glow, her curves deep shadows. Nothing else existed but us. As she stepped closer, her eyes focused on me with such passion that I was more tempted by that gaze than the rest of her. She pulled me in, and I was there with her in the past, or at least seeing visions of what could have been so many times while training.

  She had gone to bathe in a waterfall one day after intensive training. I had been a gentleman, turning my back on her to give her privacy. Now we were there and she was pulling me around, taking me passionately. I was there, but as if watching it all from nearby, my eyes going wide at the sight of my cock as she pulled it out, started stroking it, then knelt to take it in her mouth.

  Another time, when we were supposed to be sleeping. She had crawled over, asking me about a skills test I had already passed but she was preparing for. We had stayed up talking for half the night, only for me to fall asleep and see that she was gone in the morning. This time, however, she moved over to that younger version of me, slid a hand down my pants and found my cock, then slipped it into her and rode me. Slow, quiet, gentle, until she came with silent shudders.

  Mists drifted across my vision of the memory, bringing me to a time of training, others all around at first, then fading until it was just the two of us. A sparring match, I remembered as she turned to me and bowed. Only, unlike the time when the real event happened, her clothes were suddenly caught in the wind and nearly blown away but for where they were held around her waist by her sash.

  We still moved in for the fight but every time one of us would block a strike, kisses, caresses, and more followed.

  Again, the mist came, and I was left swirling, confused, not sure which direction was forward or back, or even up or down.

  Memories of what might have been, but never were. A promise of what now could be.

  Pulled back to the present, I blinked, caught off guard by the realization that she stood inches from me, close enough that the bulge in my pants was threatening to touch her, just barely not in contact.

  “I’ve seen those moments between us as they should have been,” she said, voice a low song on the wind. “Missed opportunities… but we can make up for each and every one of them.”

  As she said the final words, her fingers moved along my abs, then lower to my waistline.

  Long-ago cast aside yearnings for her reared up. I craved her, wished her hand would keep going. To grab me in her grip and never let go. And yet, a voice in my mind said it wasn’t right, that this wasn’t what I wanted.

  That we had this discussion already, or a version of it, in the tunnels on the way to the Valley of Tears.

  I was suddenly barraged with images of Cheri’s smile and so-silly laugh, of Erupa’s strong, comforting manner, of Tink’s sassy but sexy attitude, and of Mer with her innocence. The fog in my mind cleared, and I remembered each of them as if they were standing with me. I remembered the love we shared, and it hit me that whatever this temptation with Eloise was, it came from my past self, not this current version of who I had become.

  If anything, I had been infatuated with the idea of being with her more than the actual her, I realized, and took a step back.

  “No.”

  “No?” Her expression became one of pain, betrayal, then fury. “One doesn’t say ‘no’ to me so easily.”

  She rushed me, bringing strikes that I blocked with relative ease until finally I retaliated, landing a solid kick into her midsection that caused her to pu
ff away as part of the mist. There in her place was empty air and I was back on the stone platform. Not far off, I could just barely make out the real her, face turned away from what looked like me, although that version of myself was hard to make out through the heavy fog that surrounded them.

  One thing was clear, though, and that was that I was sliding out of monk robes, my cock fully erect, and I had taken one of her hands and placed it on my waist. She turned, clearly tempted, and even started to move toward me.

  My mouth opened as I was about to shout a warning, but none came. It wasn’t necessary, anyway, because she paused, pulled back, and then shook her head. In a flash, the mist was swirling and she was fighting that version of me as I had done with the mist-version of her. Her skills were remarkable. Although, watching her it was easy to be distracted by the nude version of myself, and I glanced around in hopes that nobody else was seeing this.

  To my surprise, I didn’t appear to be on the same ledge I’d come out onto. Instead, I was surrounded by open air and floating clouds. There was the ledge, and nothing more, giving way to white clouds with a tint of purple at their edges.

  In a grand display of skill, Eloise performed a double block, dropped down for a leg sweep, and in the same motion came up and around for a spinning rear kick. The other version of me burst into the mist, vanishing.

  Eloise stood there, chest heaving for a moment, and then turned to me. Her eyes went to my crotch, first, clearly still having thoughts about what she had seen, but then a shiver ran through her and she was back to her old self.

  Head cocked to one side, she smiled. “Somehow, you managed.”

  Was that sarcasm I sensed in her voice? “Excuse me?”

  She scoffed. “I saw how they tempted you, and knowing how you refused my advances back in the day, I’m not surprised.”

  “Refused…” I blinked, caught off guard by this. With a glance around, I asked, “Is this still part of the test? I wasn’t aware of any advances.”

  She chuckled at that, shaking her head. “Which just shows how naïve you are. Or… were? You seem to have your share of lovers now, which leads me to assume you’ve figured it out.”

  I nodded. “And you? Why did you reject… that version of me?”

  “What I felt for you was a long time ago, and I saw the way you look at them. You’re not about to come onto me like that without them around. Plus, it was something you said that really gave it away. Or, that version of you said.”

  “Which was?”

  “Forget them all, it’s just about you and me. The moment I heard those words, it changed.”

  The implication, I couldn’t help but note, being that she would have been all in if not for that. I gulped, nodded, and realized that the surrounding mist had given way to a rock face of a mountain at our side.

  “The final stretch?” I asked.

  “So it would seem.” She motioned for me to go ahead, and as I started to climb, I couldn’t help but notice the craving in her aura as she watched from below. Likely staring at my ass, remembering the way the other me had come onto her. A strange situation, considering my past feelings for her. But she was right—the current me wasn’t about to betray my women, especially for someone I didn’t know anymore.

  I found my handholds and footholds well enough, but soon noticed her gaining on me. We climbed until my muscles ached, then we climbed some more. Finally, at a ledge that had a mossy side to it, I rested, stretching out my arms and breathing in the cold air.

  Eloise leaned over from a ledge above me and to my right. “Remember the way we used to do this so often, and really for no reason but to show off?”

  “That’s why you did it?” I chuckled, noting the way laughing hurt my ribs. “I did it to grow, to become stronger.”

  She clicked her tongue. “Sure, sure.”

  Maybe she was right, in part. But there was no doubt I had been committed to my training. So much so, in fact, that I had apparently missed many of her sexual passes. What an idiot I had been.

  Then again, it had gotten me to this point.

  “The stones,” I started. “When’s the last time anyone succeeded in obtaining them?”

  “Master Shen, won against Master Gretcha.”

  “Master Gretcha?” I shook my head. “Damn, I’ll never forget her. What a strict…”

  “Asshole?” She chuckled. “That she was.”

  “Was?”

  “Master Shen killed her in the end. Took the black stone for himself.”

  “No shit?” I frowned, rubbing my chin. “So, the black stone… It would have been with him?”

  “Yes.”

  “And the rest?”

  “Rejected him.” She stood, causing a pebble to fall past me. “Best get on with it.”

  I agreed, but had one last question. “Why… I mean, what happened that caused him to kill her?”

  “The stone, maybe? Some think it changed him, caused him to do so. Others think it was the price required by the stone to take its power. I don’t know. Maybe if either of us manages to take a stone, we’ll find out.”

  “We’ll find out… meaning I might have to kill you?”

  “Or I, you.” She winked, then continued on.

  My heart was still racing from being so worked up with the climb, but the thought of having to hurt her, let alone kill her, made it go into hyperdrive. If it came to that, I would have to refuse. Wouldn’t I? We would simply have to return without the stones, insist on not opening the gate and instead trying it some other way.

  But… Hadrian had seen it, right? Or visited a Seer who had, I wasn’t sure on all of the details. Trying not to think about it, I pushed on, deciding it wouldn’t be an issue. Or if it became one, I would deal with it then.

  Finally, I reached the top, arms burning and sweat now cold on my back. I nearly flopped onto the ground, but used my powers to mentally heal myself, so that at least it would only be physical exhaustion in the way.

  When I looked up at Eloise, she was eyeing me with a humored grin.

  “What?” I asked, my forced breath becoming more of a wheeze.

  “I don’t know how you did it, honestly.” She approached the center of the round plateau we were on, and began waving her hands around with each step. “Being promoted to Master came with new teachings, new powers granted to me, but you… somehow you’re stronger than you should be.”

  I nodded, giving her a grunt but nothing more.

  “Fine, keep your secrets. As for me…” She gave her hands one last spin in the air, creating a circle, and then pulled back as if opening an invisible door. “Here’s my secret.”

  The air moved and three glowing shapes appeared in a prism of light.

  The core stones.

  10

  “The final test,” Eloise said, gesturing to the core stones where they floated before us, “is to see if the stones themselves accept you.”

  “And if not?” I asked, but already knew the answer.

  “Insanity, followed by death.”

  “Wonderful.” I nodded, as ready as I would ever be. Before I reached into the prism, however, I took a moment to envision first Cheri, then Erupa, followed by Mer and even Hinru. It wasn’t only imagining them, though, but feeling their emotional confidence in me, letting that run through my system as I harnessed what I had learned about myself in the trials.

  My inner light condensed and formed into me so that there was no difference between it and me, and then I reached out toward the stones. They didn’t look like anything special. They were each respectively blue, red, and gold, and all three could fit together in the palm of my hand.

  Flinching, I took the blue. It was warmer than I had expected, and smooth, vibrating slightly at my touch. That right there gave me a couple of ideas of how it could be used, ideas for which I’m sure the temple would have expelled me immediately if they knew. Holding it in front of me, I wrapped it in my fist, willing the power into me.

  If we were going to have
any chance against those strange colossus beings, this was it. Only, nothing happened. There was no explosion, no bright light or fire, just the vibration and a feeling of power. Frowning, I took the red. This time it was intense heat, almost but not quite painfully so. Again, nothing special.

  Finally, I reached out for the gold, except a completely new sensation overcame me the closer my outstretched hand got to the stone. I looked searchingly at Eloise, who was watching me with curiosity. Gold flashed, surrounding me in gold crystallized light, some seemingly solid while it floated around me and then seeped into my skin.

  Power.

  Intense power that filled me so that I stood straight, totally reenergized and feeling like I could climb a thousand more mountains like this one. My body felt like it was at one with the surrounding stones, my mind connected in a way it never had been before. As if, instead of simply reading emotions, I could read the aura of the earth? That didn’t make sense, of course, but it’s what I felt at that moment in time.

  Then all of the light had entered me, and I stood there in silence, my formerly heaving breathing now barely audible.

  “You… did it,” Eloise said. “Or, rather, the stones chose you.”

  “Only the one,” I replied.

  She shook her head. “No, all three let you take them. That’s more than with the others who tried.

  “Did you want to try for them?” I asked, holding up the blue and red in my other hand, then glancing down at a realization. Gold light was coming from my chest, and when I moved my armor aside, I stared in shock at the gold stone embedded in the flesh of my chest.

  “I don’t want that,” she said, eyeing the stone and then the ones in my hand. “The power has never been something I craved, and… I’d hate to mar my perfect breasts.”

  My laughter was nervous.

  “Besides,” she added, “they are with you, now. Maybe waiting for you to harness them correctly, or… I don’t know. But they are yours.”