1 Proposition (2/2)
”Yeah! I mean, um, no I won't turn that down. Please, anything I…” my words lagged as my thoughts raced forward in excitement.
”Of course, you are concerned about your presence in this world.”
A wave of guilt washed over me. I hadn't thought about that. My friends and family. I had been breaking away from them for years, but surely someone would miss me?
I calmed down slightly and paused to reflect, but Sirius interrupted.
”For my experiment, I require your life force. Well, your mind may be necessary too.”
”Life force? Like, qi? I have that?”
”Of course, if you wish to call it that,” he laughed.
He walked over and placed his palm on my forehead.
”I will guide you through the Mind Integration technique. This will allow you to transfer your mind and… qi… to another body.”
I felt warmth spreading through my forehead, before the world stretched out in front of me and I was enveloped by darkness. I was standing in a space which seemed to have no start and no end.
I looked down at my hands and was startled. They glowed with a golden aura, but there was no surface to reflect it. Tendrils flickered from the aura, as if reaching for something.
Sirius appeared in front of me, his golden aura brilliant and beautifully smooth. It encased him like a mandorla.
”Excellent, I was right about your innate qi.”
He walked forward and placed his hand on my chest.
”I have isolated you in a section of my soul space. Now, I will guide you to your soul…”
”Wait!” I interrupted, ”So if I do your thing, what's left behind? What happens to the me of this world?”
Sirius paused and removed his hand from my chest.
”Yes. Of course. I do not wish for you to hold any worries for your previous existence. It could... interfere with the results.”
He placed his hand on my forehead, and a strange feeling washed over me. Like a bug crawling inside my head, picking apart my brain.
Sirius withdrew his hand and turned his palm upwards. There rested a brain shaped, incredibly complex network made of golden strands of light.
”This is a duplicate of your mind,” he picked a golden strand from the network, ”and I have removed the memory of our encounter. Your old self will know no better and will carry on your pathetic life.”
He grasped the network, twisted his hand and pushed it through a rift in space.
”But you...” the corners of his mouth twitched upwards, ”will be reborn.”
Once more, he placed his hand on my chest.
”I will now guide you to your soul.”
My eyes snapped shut of their own accord and I was suddenly aware of my body. I felt the beat of my heart and the flow of my blood, the twitches of my muscles and the touch of my skin.
”Here.”
Sirius's voice was muffled and quiet compared to the sounds of my body. With a rushing sensation, my focus was drawn to my solar plexus. It was almost as if I could see it, a flickering kernel of warmth that I had never sensed before.
”Dive into it,” his voice spread through my body again.
I seemed to know what he meant, and I imagined a whirlpool with this kernel at its centre, sucking every ounce of my being into its depths.
”Well done.”
His voice was different this time, like I was submerged in water. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't. However, in a strange way I could sense where he was. He seemed like the sun, sending waves of warmth towards me.
”You have brought your mind into your soul. For now, I have provided you with the qi to do this, but it is unstable so we must act fast.”
I felt myself rushing through space, with the occasional disturbing sensation, like passing through a sticky membrane.
”We are here. You can surely feel my soul right now, but you must find the other, smaller soul and consume it.”
I tried to sense this other soul but a deep, sickening sensation erupted from my core.
”You… fight… sickness.”
Sirius's voice sounded even more distorted and I could barely make out his words. In the ocean of sensations, I felt a pinprick of a gentle warmth behind me. I rushed towards it and enveloped it. As the warmth soaked into my body, I began to feel more stable.
”Good. You have now grounded yourself in a physical body,”
Sirius's voice was clearer now, and I relaxed as a comfortable feeling spread through me.
”I am removing the support of my qi. You will now go to your new body,” his voice began to fade, ”as a parting gift, here is the Soul Becoming World Technique.”
A spark of light flashed into me, and the first page of a book appeared in my memories.
”It is important for you to remember your experience today and practice this technique.”
His voice was now becoming almost too quiet to hear.
”Good luck, Oscar.”