22 Chapter 21) Torments of the Void.

Xavier Xerxes didn't do well with darkness. It spooked him... intimidated him with the many mysteries and possibilities it held. Darkness identified too well with the pool of loneliness in his heart, the shame of being different and the thoughts of a gloomy future. Darkness showed off all the things wrong with his mother, the fractures in his life and those things he would never get.

Nope, Xavier never tolerated darkness. He slept with the lights on in full blast. He never ventured into the basement of his Aunt's house for any reason. No, he wasn't scared of darkness. He merely avoided it entirely. Like a survival instinct. Balloons avoided needles for a reason. But like most things he tried to avoid, they always found ways to get back to him. Homeschooling hadn't stopped the bullies from attacking him. Becoming a Mystic had not stopped all this from happening. Selena had overpowered him completely, and now he was in total darkness. As weak and helpless as ever, was Xavier.

Xavier shivered as chill air engulfed his body. The darkness felt dead and empty but had an icy air to it that unnerved him. He might as well go blind because that was how it seemed. This was no ordinary darkness.

Such thought had barely passed through his mind when he felt something brush the back of his neck. A tremble rushed through him and he jumped in shock.

"Who...who's there?" Was he expecting an answer or something? What would he actually do if something actually answered his question?

He didn't have his sense of bearing because he could neither see not hear anything. Except for the cold, he also felt nothing....

Something caressed his cheek, lingering on the curve down to his lips before slipping off his face. He was so shocked by the sensation that he couldn't move until it was gone in a flitting second. He stumbled back, panic rising up in his chest.

"That was creepy." He admitted with a pounding heart. His voice sounded foreign to his ears, like it was coming from someone else.

"System? Are you there?"

[System is ready to recieve your instructions or queries.]

Xavier let out a breath of relief. At least he wasn't alone. He would never be alone with the Celestial system tucked away in his subconscious. It was part of him wherever he went, and the thought of that was calming.

"Where am I?"

[Mystic is in the Void.]

Simple, that was how the System replied to everything. Such a bland answer didn't do much to help Xavier's case. He already knew he was in the Void. Selena had not failed to mention that during her crazy ritual. Her crazy ritual that would destroy his mother and end mysticism.

"What is the Void?"

[The void is the darkest part of space and worlds. It's the part of the universe that exists between galaxies, worlds, possibilities and dimensions.]

[This is the pathway through which dungeons and beasts are released into planet Lazuli.]

"Released? Do you mean that the dungeons and beasts are created somewhere else before being transported to Lazuli?"

[System has no further information. Mystic Level below authorization for access to such revelations.]

Xavier sighed but said nothing. He understood that everything about being a Mystic depended on the levels. As a novice mystic, his powers and reach were very limited. Why couldn't all this trouble wait until he had at least acquired an ounce of knowledge from the Academy or better still had leveled up to a higher level of mystic existence? Why did it have to happen now?

He shivered again as he recalled what Selena had done to those men back at the lab. She had removed their crystal cores without batting any of her eyelashes. What was she doing to his mother now? The more time he spent in this empty space spelt a lesser chance of him going back to find his mother alive. That was if he ever made it back.

"System, please tell me how I can get out of this?"

{Your so called Celestial System can't help you here. It can do nothing for you while you are in my personal space.}

Xavier frowned. That voice...it was different from the monotone sound of the System he was now used to. The voice was deep and patronizing, as if nursing a satisfied smile.

He looked around at nothing in particular. The darkness stared back at him, but maybe he wasn't alone as he'd thought.

"Hello! Anyone there?" He called. "System, what's going on?" Maybe this was just another malfunctioning. Another reason why he had to get to the academy to be registered and properly ranked.

{You won't get a reply from the System. I have temporarily overshadowed it. This is my tuft and I hold all the power here. No system or being can withstand me in the void.}

"What?" None of that made actual sense to him, but it unnerved him all the same.

{You sound scared, young Mystic. You haven't seen me but yet you tremble like a lone leaf stuck in a storm. What will you do when I reveal myself?}

Pain travelled down Xavier's chest to pool in the lowest part of his stomach. "Who are you?"

{Who am I?} The voice laughed coldly, sending chills down the Novice Mystic's spine. {You don't get to ask such a question, young Mystic. The most important thing you should worry about is this...Who are you, Xavier Xerxes?}

Xavier couldn't help it anymore. He started running. Alright, his brain agreed that he was actually moving but his body felt as if he was stuck in one place. The darkness around him was too much. His feet squished over what seemed like muddy earth as he hurried through the darkness, going nowhere in particular. A snuffling sense of claustrophobia seized him as the gloom greeted him in whichever direction he turned. He gasped for air. Sweat broke all over his skin. But he did not stop running.

{Are you joking with me?} The voice rumbled with laughter again. {This is beyond pathetic. Where do you think you can go? You are in the void. Nothing but what I want exists in here, and for now, nowhere in here is safe from me.}

Xavier lost his footing and tumbled towards the ground. But there was no impact. There was no longer any ground, either. He kept on falling through the darkness. A scream rose in his throat but the fear was so much that he couldn't even release it.

{Xavier, I must say that I'm disappointed. You are a mystic! How can you be this clueless and fragile? Yes, I am mighty and powerful beyond your possible imagination. Even still...you don't even fight me! You never fight back! You got bullied all your life and you never fought back! Your mother was made to suffer but you never fought back to save her! You ended up here instead. What do you expect me to do with someone so cowardly and feeble?}

Tears pricked his eyes as hurt replaced fear. Xavier couldn't agree more with the voice. He was all those things. Right from day one, he had let people walk over him...control what he saw in the mirror whenever he mistakenly looked into it. They'd inflicted him with their own versions of what normal should be and he had gladly accepted them. He was cowardly and feeble, alright.

{Remember the day you came home from school with a black eye and bruises all over your skin? You broke your mother's heart. You begged her not to return back. You begged her to become homeschooled. And she agreed, despite her own opinion. That was the first cowardly act you committed. You chose from that day to hide yourself, to stay away from your challenges. You lost you confidence.}

Though Xavier was still falling, he didn't mind anymore. The hurt in his heart far outweighed that. He could recall the look on his mother's face when he had walked through the door of their little house. The voice was right. He had begged her to save him from the brutality of being seen outside by people. He had chosen the easy way.

{Do you know what? You are just like your father. He was at the hospital the day you were birthed into the world. He was proud to have a son until he saw you.} Laughter rolled out again. {Imagine his shock when he looked at the child cradled in his beloved wife's arms. Do you know what he called you? A monster. He called his son a monster! He ran away from the hospital. He fled and never looked back. Your father was not brave enough to accept you. And do you blame him? You can't blame him because you have not been brave enough to accept yourself, as well!}

Xavier landed on something hard and all the air left him. He was full on sobbing now, his shoulders heaving with each labored breath he took. The hotness in his chest was overwhelming. He wanted to close his ears to the harsh voice but he knew it would be of no use. He could feel the voice ripping through his soul, tearing him apart from inside.

{Xavier Xerxes, you have so little time to get yourself out of here. Do you know why? Your mother won't be alive for very long, and it would be all your fault. Her blood will be on your hands because you were not brave enough to save her! You will suffer that loss for the rest of your miserable life, young mystic.}

The voice broke into laugher again, and Xavier felt the darkness around him joining in the fun, taunting him, accusing him.

Was he brave enough to get out of the void and save his mother?

{Enough with the self pity! Come with me, young Mystic. I have something really interesting to show you. Let's see how worse you'll feel after that.}