章 2305: Carving a Path
Following his conversation with Skuld, Vahn entered a type of maze known as a Trojaborg Labyrinth.
Unlike typical mazes, Trojaborg Labyrinths only had a single path with no dead ends. As he made his way through, panels would rise behind him to prevent him from turning back, presumably representing the passage of time and the general inability for people to turn back on the road of life.
Contributing to this speculation, Vahn eventually found himself within a room whose environment spontaneously changed into the aftermath of a great battle. There were hundreds of corpses littering the ground, but it was possible to make out subdued sobbing and other signs of life if you listened closely.
"Hmmm..."
Though he could see a rather conspicuous gate located a few hundred meters away, Vahn took a moment to ponder the purpose of his current setting. At the same time, his domain captured everyone and everything within range of his senses, instantaneously informing him of the number of survivors and their respective conditions.
Presumably in an attempt to break his concentration, Vahn's attention was drawn to a relatively young boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a missing arm that called out to him, "Please...help me..." in a strained tone.
"Sure, why not?"
Raising his right hand towards the sky, Vahn surprised the skulking Skuld by creating a complex magic circle that easily covered the entirety of the battlefield. Then, with a simple snap of Vahn's fingers, everyone in need of treatment, including a few that had recently passed, found themselves without injury.
While it would have been understandable if they needed time to process what had just happened, there was no stillness following Vahn's actions. Rather, upon discovering they could move about freely, a few of the more bloodthirsty individuals picked up stray hammers and axes in an attempt to strike down their recently recovered foes.
Adding insult to injury, the boy that had asked Vahn for help picked up a spear and attempted to impale him through the stomach, shouting, "Die, Sorceror...!"
Rolling his eyes, Vahn began making his way towards the gate at the far end of the battlefield as several individuals joined the youth in trying to kill him. In response, Vahn made his body immaterial, completely ignoring their frenzied attacks as they seemingly competed for the glory of taking his head.
After passing through the gate, Vahn, once again, found himself within the Trojaborg Labyrinth. When he looked back, the battlefield had vanished, replaced by a smooth stone wall and a mural depicting a man raising his hand toward the sky and raising the dead.
"Neat."
While others may have fallen into a moment of reflection after passing through the battlefield, Vahn left Skuld feeling at a loss as he resumed his journey without a fuss. In his mind, there was nothing to be learned as he was well-acquainted with the selfishness of those who lived in the pursuit of glory. At the same time, his healing of people was an expression of his personal form of selfishness. He wasn't going to brood because someone used his gift to spite him or commit atrocities. That was their decision, not his.
Making his way through the maze, Vahn inevitably came across several other settings that required him to make choices that would have weighed heavily on the consciousness of others. There was even a situation where he had to choose between saving two children, his decision to save one invariably resulting in the death of the other.
Completely ignoring the premise, Vahn teleported both children to his side before ruffling their hair and telling them to be more careful in the future. Later, he was given the option of saving a group of hunters being assailed by a massive wolf. The wolf turned out to be a mother trying to secure food for her pups, so coming to the aid of the hunters, at least under normal circumstances, would have resulted in the deaths of several innocent lives.
Doing things at his own pace, Vahn prevented the mother wolf's attack with some headpats before smacking some sense into the hunters that wanted to kill her in retaliation. He then provided more than enough food for both groups to go their separate ways before relocating the mother and her pups someplace where they would be able to live without human intervention, at least for a while.
In the end, Vahn had to clear a total of eleven stages, one for each circuit of the Trojaborg Labyrinth. Awaiting him at his destination was a massive stone wall depicting the decisions he had made along the way, each laid out in a fresco. Skuld was also there, appearing somewhat unenthusiastic as she said, "Much like this mural, the decisions we make in life are set in stone. It might be possible to take a chisel to it, but there is no changing what has come to pass, only what is to come..."
Gesturing towards an ancient-looking hammer and chisel located beneath the mural, Skuld added, "Beyond the limitations of time, knowledge of the past, present, and future are one and the same. With the proper tools, it is possible to change all three. However, the only thing that truly changes is oneself. Attempt to change the past in the present, and the only thing you end up accomplishing is writing a new future..."
Having long been aware of such fundamental truths, Vahn simply nodded his head in response to Skuld's words. When she saw her words had very little effect on him, a subdued sigh escaped her throat as she lowered her hand and remarked, "I thought as much. You truly are a unique existence. Most people spend their entire lives searching for meaning along the path they walk. It is exceptionally rare, even among the Gods, for an individual to be content walking the path itself..."
Resisting the urge to point out he was the manifestation of The Path itself, Vahn maintained a smile as he replied, "Compliment me any further, and I may float away due to my ego overinflating."
Rolling her eyes, Skuld began to slowly dematerialize as she said, "When you reach the end of your journey, the best way forward is to carve a new path..."
"Mmm...I see..."
Though she could be trying to be mysterious, Vahn decided to interpret Skuld's words literally by blasting a hole through the mural depicting his journey through the maze. When he did, he could have sworn he heard the sound of someone tripping, but Vahn just ignored it as he made his way into the nebulous black void that awaited him on the other side of the newly created door...
...
..
.
Shortly after entering the darkness, Vahn found himself stepping out into what appeared to be an underground cavern. The walls were covered in bioluminescent algae that made it resemble the evening sky, but the thing that immediately caught Vahn's attention was the stunning beauty waiting for him near a spring filled with a hazy, rainbow-hued liquid.
Knowing what the sisters originally had in mind once he completed their challenges, Vahn decided to tease the ephemeral, pink and blue-haired giantess by asking, "Oh? Are we going to take a bath?"
Snorting through her nose, the mesmerizing beauty, Urðr, explained, "This is one of the many mouths of Urðarbrunnr, the Well of Fate. To proceed to the next Trial, you must find your way through this passage without losing yourself in its flow. Be warned, as even the most stalwart of spirits can be shattered-why are you taking your clothes off?"
Seeing everything but Vahn's underpants spontaneously melt away, Urðr couldn't prevent her eyes from roaming even as she took a step back and prepared to apparate away. Both she and Verðandi had been listening in when he spoke with Skuld, but she didn't trust that Vahn wouldn't try to force himself on her if the opportunity presented itself. Most Gods weren't exactly gentlemen...
Resisting the temptation to point out that Urðr's feathery outfit was even scantier than his own, Vahn calmly replied, "If I'm going to pass through the spring that contains the memories of everyone's pasts, I may as well experience it directly."
Recalling how Solon had once been swept up by the Urðarbrunnr, Vahn had always wondered what it would be like to subsume himself into the collective memories of everyone that had ever lived within a designated Realm. Most people would be terrified by such a thing, fearing they would be consumed and lose themselves, but Vahn knew it was only a matter of time before he had to subsume all of Creation into himself. He couldn't be intimidated by the collective experiences of a few trillion people.
Seeing no signs of fear or hesitation in Vahn's actions, Urðr couldn't help thinking he was looking down on their Trials. At the same time, however, a fluttery feeling filled her bosom as she considered the possibility that he really could clear them with ease...
Noticing the dazed giantess's gaze as he walked past, Vahn sent Urðr a wink before stepping into the rainbow-hued liquid without a moment of hesitation. Nothing happened when it was just his body, but the moment his head sank beneath the surface, he could feel countless fragments of Ego attempting to invade his body.
("Oh...this is going to be easier than I thought...")
Similar to when Gustang attempted to invade his mind and analyze the structure and composition of his Ego, Vahn didn't even have to resist as his body and mind naturally purged the invasive influence. Then, as if to prevent further intrusion, a pulse of energy surged out from the very core of his Ego, purifying the surrounding waters of their rainbow hue.
Though he was a little disappointed, Vahn swam through the underwater tunnels with the finesse of a god-tier penguin until his senses detected an air pocket. When he surfaced, he found Verðandi staring down at him with an almost offended look on her face as she asked, "Just what are you...?"
Rising from the water like a balloon, Vahn casually replied, "Those close to me call me Vahn. Pretty much everyone else calls me the Sage Dragon Emperor. Nice to meet you?"
Furrowing her brows, Verðandi gripped the staff in her hands as she said, "I've never heard of a Dragon that can exorcise Souls by simply swimming through them..."
While drying himself off and donning a fresh outfit, Vahn tried to correct Verðandi's misunderstanding, explaining, "The waters of the Urðarbrunnr are not comprised of Souls, but the fragments of countless people's Egos. It is a collection of memories and intentions that refuse to merge, so they form a stream of consciousness that attempts to latch onto anything more 'whole' than itself."
Landing on the ground, Vahn ignored the suspicion in Verðandi's gaze as he looked around asked, "So? Where's my next Trial? I'm not exactly in a rush, but there are a lot of people waiting for my return."
"Hmph..."
Tapping the spear-like end of her staff against the ground, Verðandi produced what appeared to be several additional Doppelgangers. This time, however, they did not take Vahn's form. Instead, two took on the forms of Sis and Fenrir while the others began changing into people the Central Network undoubtedly recognized as precious to him.
If it were just his lovers, Vahn wouldn't have minded too much as he knew the Doppelgangers weren't 'real.' It was when a few began taking on the form of his children that the casual smile faded from his face, replaced by a grim expression as he looked towards Verðandi and warned, "This goes beyond playing with fire..."
Though she would have ordinarily scoffed at such a threat, Verðandi's eyes widened as she found herself unable to move under Vahn's stare. It was like a hand had grasped around her entire body, threatening to crush her into paste the moment she said or did anything out of line...
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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Vahn does things at his own pace...','Oof...','Even the Central Network is sweating...')
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