2 I soar, and crash

"My name is Morpheus," I spoke out loud, it felt befitting. In the Dc multiverse, Morpheus was the King of Dreams, rather he was the Dream.

I wasn't stupid enough to think I could even measure to his pinky toe, but I resonated with that name. He represented my three current dreams, one was to be strong enough to be free, to never be threatened, and to survive the crazy shit that was gonna go down soon. That was by far my biggest dream, survival.

The second dream I had was to live forever. Who doesn't dream of living forever? I, now, feasibly could. I wasn't dumb enough to think I was at the top of the food chain just because I was a demigod, no, but I had the potential to be. I didn't want to die, my second dream went hand in hand with my first dream, live forever. My last dream was to see the multiverse, not just this one, but all of them. I was in a reality where everything was possible, so I would achieve these dreams.

I would gain power, become free, live forever, and one day perhaps return home. Either of them. Jason the accountant's home, or Jason the demigod's home.

The name Morpheus symbolized those three dreams, and it was also just cool as fuck. I liked the name, it was badass. Sue me.

"I am Morpheus!" I reaffirmed to myself, and something shifted. It was sort of a tingling across my senses. I couldn't tell exactly what but it felt like my name had been accepted by reality itself. How did I know that? I wondered before I realized the answer, I was still channeling the wisdom of Athena through my armor. Speaking of that.

"Mm, this won't do," I said to myself. I'd been preparing to test my powers, I'd run away from the little shack Jason had been staying in close to a Shield base. I ran for a few hours, marveling at the fact that I didn't get tired at all. Though in retrospect I should have used the Speed of Hermes to cross the same distance in a few seconds. For the next time, I was still learning.

The armor enhanced my abilities on top of what they already were. With the armor on, I wouldn't be able to get an accurate baseline for my abilities. Not that I had any plans of ever ditching the thing, it was supernaturally comfortable, barely made any sound, and fit snugly. Still, I wanted to know what I was capable of by myself first.

Now how to remove it? I wouldn't bore you with the details, but I spent a good 15 minutes trying to pry it off before I thought to channel the Wisdom of Athena again. I felt like an idiot, but again, I was still learning.

It was hard to describe what the wisdom goddess' power felt like. It didn't make me smarter, it just made me more capable of using the brain I already had. I didn't think more but thought deeper. If that makes any sense. It was like a good night's rest in a bottle, all my fatigue, tiredness, and distractions went away. My thoughts became sharper, and just like that I knew how to remove the armor. It was so obvious, I felt stupid not realizing it before, as I said, the wisdom didn't make me smarter, so I should have been able to think of this by myself.

The armor wasn't a traditional armor, it was created by the magic of Gods, bonded to me on a fundamental, and spiritual level. I couldn't just pull it off. I closed my eyes, focusing deeply, took a deep breath, and willed the armor off myself.

I opened my eyes gingerly and saw motes of light disappearing in front of me, the armor was gone… and I was left wearing a pair of shorts, and a simple T-shirt with some sandals. A quick search of memory showed me that Jason had stolen these off a thrift store from some town a few hundred kilometers west of where he lived, and it was that particular act that had gotten Shield on his trail.

I ignored that thought for a moment. I was not sure what I was going to do in regards to Shield, but it would likely involve the words 'running,' and 'away'… exclusively in that order.

Still feeling excited, I focused on that second bond I had in my spirit, stretched my hand outwards, and called, "Poly! To me!" I yanked that feeling in my mind, and a polished gleaming spear teleported right to my hand. I looked at it in awe, this was awesome!

This was the spear forged by the God Hephaestus himself, that was given to Jason by his mother… he had named it Poly in her Honor, and because he has mommy issues. I had none of those things, while I did feel fond of Hippolyta, likely an influence of Jason, I didn't feel the love he had for her.

"Mmm you need something a bit more badass for your name," I muttered, and the spear felt doubtful. "You like the name 'Poly?'" I received an affirmative feeling from it in response. It seemed in the long years of its history, the spear had developed an identity of its own.

"Then how about we expand that name? Add something that lets the world know your majesty?" The spear still radiated doubt at me, how was it doing that anyway? Stupid sentient spear with a lack of trust, "How about 'Heaven Piercing Spear, Poly?'" I asked.

It took a moment to think but responded with a negative feeling. Too long it seemed to say. What even was my life? I was having a psychic conversation with a magical spear, and it didn't feel weird.

I decided for a moment to ponder. The spear in my hand had a rich history of conflict, of wars waged, of battles won, and lost. A history of foes slain, of felling friends, it was satisfied as it was. It had been with Jason for decades and had gone through thick, and thin with him. It knew I was not Jason, but he was a part of me, so it was willing to trust me, to give me a chance.

What could I name it that was appropriate? I thought some more, and decided on a name I felt it would like. The spear sensed my eagerness and radiated a cautious curiosity at me. "Stormdancer."

I knew it wasn't the best name out there, but it felt just right. The spear pondered for a moment, and I felt nervous. Maybe it didn't like it, maybe I had damaged my relationship with it already, but it radiated satisfaction a moment later.

"Yes!" I shouted in elation. The spear joined me in joy, it liked its name. It felt the name represented it appropriately, it was the rider of the storms that I created. A spear that could not stop anymore a storm could be.

I raised Stormdancer to my forehead, and muttered a solemn vow, "I swear to you that I will be a worthy wielder. We will do great things together." The spear accepted my vow with equal solemnity, radiating confidence in me, promising to never let me down.

I still didn't know what I was going to do with my new immortal life, but it felt like a good start as I dismissed Stormdancer… to where the spear went… maybe to my spirit?

———————————————

I jumped up, and down trying to warm up, taking deep breaths but it was pointless. I didn't get worked up with something so small, my new physical abilities were beyond this small amount of exercise.

I was trying to calm myself before testing my power. After all, who hadn't dreamt of being able to fly? Being able to lift cars? Or calling on storms when they were younger?

"Ok ok ok," I muttered to myself, "Here we go, System!" Nothing happened, "uh inventory!" Again nothing, "Status!" Nada. Wasn't that how it was supposed to go? A gamer system, and all?

Well, that was disappointing. A tad little but nothing big, not like I was lacking any power. Besides, having a system would have just made me a puppet following what the system wanted me to do, not my own free person.

Enough dancing around, it was time to test my powers. Maybe I should do it as Billy did in his Shazam movie, with different abilities, one test for each. But I wanted to get the big one out of the way first. I wanted to fly.

I ignored the butterflies in my stomach, I was scared of heights in my last life, not terribly, but logically. Everyone is somewhat terrified of heights. I knelt down on the ground, and waited… how do I fly exactly? Should I just jump? Hoping it would work. That's how Superman did it? Right?

I felt like smacking my forehead. Just search my memories, moron, I told myself. Let my instincts guide me. I closed my eyes, I knew I could manipulate the air to fly, or turn into air itself. That would be the way way, and boring. I wanted to fly naturally. I focused on the energy gathering in me, in the pit of my stomach. I tried to let muscle memory take over, to feel what Jason did when flying… and I leaped.

"HOLY SHIT!" I shouted as I blasted off the ground in an arc. My hair flapped in the air as I accelerated blasting through the sky higher, and higher. I laughed in awe, and pure joy at the freedom of flight. Nothing could describe what I was feeling, even though I was just going uncontrollably this was, without a doubt, the greatest moment of my life.

I laughed like crazy waving my arms, trying to do a somersault. I wanted to replicate that scene of Superman learning to fly in Man of Steel when my concentration broke. Just like that I was no longer flying… I was falling.

"Ah fuck," I cursed as I fell towards the cold, hard ground beneath.