Black Onyx - Phoenix Resurrection

[How are you feeling?] I asked as I entered the room, visiting my patient.

“Mmm… Weird, but better. Like I just awoke from a bad dream.” Olivia answered groggily, sitting up in her bed and massaging her head. “My memory still feels incomplete. With events missing and holes everywhere… It’s like… like Swiss cheese.”

I smiled and took a seat beside the bed. [Well, you are already using Earth expressions, so that’s good.] I focused on mending her mind, sitting behind her with my hands on her shoulders while she was slouched down, trying to keep steady.

“I still can’t believe this is real. I mean, it’s been so many years since then, yet it feels like it all happened just yesterday.” She said.

I hummed to myself and nodded. [It will pass with time. You were asleep for a long time after all, and you basically got new memories just now, even though they were originally yours.]

“Yeah… But… My god, I still can’t believe I forgot about Earth! The fact that magic exists, and so do aliens… Hell, we are the aliens here, and god knows where here is. And speaking of gods… The Demons...”

I felt her shift while detecting unease from her Soul.

“Sorry for trying to kill you all. I know it can’t be easy, sacrificing your own Essence to fix me. Thank you for doing this. It was so… What they did to me, what I felt… I’m truly sorry.”

[You are welcome. And you already apologized plenty. You seriously need to stop it or I’m going to have to slap you. What are you, a Canadian?]

That got a small chuckle out of her, the tension dissipating somewhat. “Sorry, I’ll try to- Ah! I said it again, sorry.”

I loudly sighed and just shook my head. The change to Olivia’s personality became drastic after the first week. From a loud, aggressive warrior, she became a quiet mouse, afraid of hurting anyone.

In the beginning I simply muted her Widowmaker memories, making her mind an almost clear slate to build upon. I then set to organize and repair the old memories, connecting them to her Soul one by one. Slowly she became aware, remembering who or what she once was. I continued that for a few days, and after judging her stable enough, I slowly reintroduced the more violent memories and things the Drow did to her, as well as things she did as the Widowmaker, resulting in a short depression episode that lasted for a few days.

As I fixed her more and more, she eventually came to terms with it all, but her fiery personality was gone. Granted, it was a lot to take in all at once, and she was doing well considering the circumstances, but unfortunately, I couldn’t get her back to 100%.

As I said, some of her memories already decayed beyond repair, the weaker they were from an emotional standpoint, the faster they fell apart.

The same went for things that happened long ago. Older memories were the first to go, so much of her early years were gone. She still remembered much of her early adult life though, as well as the military training and the early years after landing on the alien planet. Memories of memories also survived, though those felt more distant and like something that happened to someone else, not her.

Through the conversation I understood that she felt like she was just watching her body go through the motions, doing things, but not being in control. A dissociative disorder. It would hopefully pass with time as she regained her autonomy and could start living her life anew.

While repairing her Soul I also removed the tracker that was hidden deep in her body, giving off barely detectable pulses of Qi that were easy to miss if you weren’t looking for them specifically. As she usually wasn’t trying to hide her presence, she would have never discovered it on her own. I fixed that little problem, if nothing else just to spite the Drow.

[Alright, that’s enough for today.] I said, patting her on the shoulder. [You need to rest. Your Soul is all fragile now that I repaired it, so don’t even think about Cultivating for the next few weeks, got it? Also try to relax, no dark thoughts.]

“Yes, thank you.” She said and then turned her head to the side. There was silence for a bit and then her shoulders suddenly trembled. “Sorry, I know it’s difficult to-”

I grabbed her, turned her around, and stared into her eyes. She trembled slightly, trying to shrink down her massive form.

“I-”

Extending my hand, I flicked her forehead.

“Ow.” She rubbed her face instinctively even though there was not even a mark and the action most likely didn’t even hurt.

[What did I just say?]

“Um… Not to say sorry again?”

I nodded. [Indeed. And what did you do?]

“I said sorry.”

[Exactly. And how are you going to fix that?]

“I’ll try to do better.” She lowered her head with a guilty expression. “Sorry.”

I rolled my eyes and threw my hands in the air, giving up.

“How is she?” Alexandra asked after I returned to the lounge. They had furnished the rooms since I last visited the secret base, making it much more homely instead of leaving it as the naked stone fortress it was before.

[She’s sleeping.] I replied, taking a seat on a sofa and getting myself a drink. [She’s mentally exhausted. It’s going to take some time for her to reacclimate to the new reality.]

“Thad bad, huh?” John asked somberly.

I nodded, taking a sip. [She almost died, you know?]

“What?! Really?”

I turned with the cup in my hand towards Alexandra. [I had underestimated the bastard who did this to her. They left a failsafe inside her Soul as well. I’m not sure what triggered it, though I have my suspicions, but when it happened, she was seconds away from her Soul shattering completely.]

I downed the contents of the cup in one big gulp and then sighed, placing it on the table. [Good thing I was there. I managed to stop the blast before it was too late. If she somehow triggered it on her own, it would have been over quickly.]

Frowning, I stroked my short beard. [Surprisingly she is even weaker than I thought. Her Cultivation is at the peak of Spirit Realm, but her foundation is… trash. It seems like she was forcefully uplifted to that Level.]

“She’s stronger than me?” John asked, lifting an eyebrow.

[Not even close.] I snorted. [Her strength might approach yours, but her defenses, both body and Soul, are absolute trash. Bottom of the barrel garbage. She went down to just a few of my punches, and I wasn’t even transformed.]

“Ah, yes… You mentioned that.”

[I’m actually disappointed. I expected the Drow to put up more of a fight, but they are just bad. It’s not even fun beating them anymore.] I said, my voice carrying the weight of my disappointment. Thousands of soldiers died to a single grand spell. How could that be satisfying?

“Well, you can't blame them, really. Compared to them, you are a monster.” John said, pouring himself a cup of fruit wine. “How much do you even have, if you don’t mind me asking? What are your Qi stores at the moment?”

[Honestly?] I looked at him, thinking if I should even say it. Ultimately I decided that I should. We were a family. [It’s inexhaustible.]

John chuckled. “I mean, I know you have a lot, but what’s it in terms of… let’s say, Spirit Stones?”

[No.] I looked at him seriously. [It’s literally infinite. I don’t know, hundreds of thousands at the moment, maybe millions?]

“What?!”

[Remember how we can consume Souls?]I said. [I used them sometimes when I ran out of Qi, burning Souls directly. Or even my Soul if I didn’t have anything else, knowing I could repair it easily.]

“Yeah, but…”

[I know it’s wasteful, but think about it. How much does an average Spirit Realm Cultivator need to reach the First Level? A thousand Stones?]

“On average? Uh, yeah... Around there, I think, maybe a few thousand.”

[Well then.] I leaned closer, speaking softly. [Now imagine a level Five, or Six, Seven, Eight… Whatever it is, just imagine it. The energy requirements go up exponentially, right?]

“…Right. So…”

[Now imagine that instead of devouring the Soul, you instead keep it in your Sea of Consciousness, storing the Soul Essence for a later date. How much could you contain? Enough for a few dozen high-ranking Cultivators? A lifetime of accumulation times ten?]

John stared straight ahead in silence as his eyes gradually enlarged. “Oh.” He said. “Oooooh!”

He understood.

I nodded and grinned, leaning back. [Now you get it. Infinite energy. It just recently clicked for me. Last fight, actually. Turns out the Drow were useful for something after all. Haha!]

“But that’s…” Alexandra joined the conversation. “How destructive would that be?”

[You tell me.] I grinned. [When the Drow surrounded me, I turned one Soul into pure energy. One! And guess how many died from that?]

“How many?”

I paused for a dramatic effect. [All of them.]

“All of them?”

[A thousand!] I shouted and then slapped my knee, laughing. [At least, maybe more!]

John whistled, leaning back in his seat. “Shit…” He scratched his head, staring into the distance. I could practically see his thoughts rushing through his mind at light speed.

“And you then... consumed them all?” He asked.

[Yeah… Well, a bunch of them escaped, unfortunately. They were too far for me to capture, and most of them were in the middle of the Spirit Realm so they weren’t the strongest, but, basically, yeah.]

“And are you…” He gestured vaguely with his hands. “Close to advancing?”

[Next Level? Eh… Kind of. A few hundred more. I can feel there is still some free space in my Soul. Gotta stuff it till it pops, you know?.]

“Holy shit man, that’s insane.” John said, frowning. “You will really need to drain the entire continent by the time you reach the Sky Realm.”

[I hope not. That would seriously throw a wrench in my plans.]

“Which are?”

[Becoming a god, obviously.] I said humbly.

John blinked a few times. “Obviously.”

Alexandra tried to hide her giggle, unsuccessfully, by covering her mouth. I returned a smile and then stood up.

[Well, I better go get some rest. After I finish fixing Olivia I’m going back to the front lines. I’ll see whether I can get to that Level Four.] I stretched and yawned, the fact that I hadn’t slept in… some time was taking its toll on me even though I didn’t technically need sleep. It was still a great way to relax.

[It shouldn’t be too hard. Judging by what I did, the Drow higher-ups are probably super pissed. I wonder what they are scheming? I hope it's something fun.]