Good bye

A Nuke. I had been tossing around something I had thought of as nothing more than a shiny immortal door maker. Turned out to be a God Nuke!

Persephone was the farthest from the thing as possible but was still within earshot. "You played with it without fully knowing what it was?! How did you not know!? That thing could level an entire galaxy if dealt with wrong!" She shouted.

"Well I obviously wouldn't have messed with it if my grandfather wasn't capable of making them like hotcakes now would I!?" I shouted back.

After hearing that someone could make these things easily I saw Aed's eye twitch. Like he was a little surprised by it. "A philosophers stone is not something you can just make. It's a concentration of a world's laws into a place till it solidifies into a crystal. It takes hundreds of years to make just one. How can your grandfather make them easily?" He said as he crossed his arms.

"You travel through a few hundred planets using them as your soul form of life extension for a few thousand years and see how many you can make." I replied as I stared at the thing on the table.

Aed and the others seemed to ponder for moment before chatting with each other in a huddled group.

"It's too dangerous just to have one of those things. We should destroy it and it's creator." Kukulkan hissed.

"But the creator is dying anyway. He just wants to view his home one last time. It's not like he's going to be around forever." Aed said.

"And what if he decides to make more in the next world? Hm? What then? Should we just throw him back into he cycle and hope he forgets how to make them?" Cara grunted.

"He would need his soul wiped entirely of memory for it to work but he could return to the cycle without issues." Persephone chimed in tapping her chin.

"You guys do realize I can hear you just fine right." I called from across the room.

They all turned to see my unimpressed grin with a slight grimace.

"I think you could take his soul to see his home one last time. He doesn't need to be alive after all to see it. Then his soul could be sent into the cycle again after a memory wipe so the "man" who was my grandfather. Can finally be at peace." I said.

The others looked at each other as Persephone pondered. "I'd be willing to escort him. But I think his grandson would know the best places to show him for his last rites." She said looking back at me.

I could only nod as her argument made sense. Who knew my world better than myself. Especially the family lots and houses. I knew all there was to know. After all. My family members gloated about them as I lost my rights to them.

Aed and the others seemed to come to terms with what she meant. Kukulkan seemed to scowl at it while Vara was grimacing. Aed simply seemed calm and relaxed about it all.

"Very well then. I'll give him the good news." I said as I turned from the rest of them and my vision faded to the darkness of my eyelids.

"It would seem things have concluded." An aged voice spoke as I opened my eyes. The hand that had held the stone previously was now empty and the man before me seemed to be aging rapidly. His old body now seemed thinner and more boney. His eyes were sinking further inward. All this happening till his body collapsed to the floor exploding to nothing but dust as his soul stood where it he had been before.

His soul was not like the others I had seen before. It had definition. Skin pigment and even cloths. The detail was incredible. An intact soul. Though the difference in age and appearance was startling.

His face looked like a man in his mid 40's with dark hair with a grey streak running along the side. A thin beard was neatly trimmed along his jawline and chin leading to a point. His skin was slightly wrinkles but bore a more respectable and less aged look.

He held his hand before his face with a slightly entertained grin on his lips. "Finally after all these years I get to be free of that aging husk. He said as he let his hand hang at his side before glancing around.

"So I am dead. Am I to be forced into the cycle or have I been allowed my last request?" He asked me. His eyes didn't show hostility or even anger. Merely interest and if I saw it right. A trace of weariness.

"You have been allowed to see your home one last time. Or at least the home I was familiar with. But since travel between the world's isn't something I am good at. I will show you my memories so you can experience the warmth of earths sun. And the home that was built while you were gone." I replied calmly.

He showed a saddened frown as he reached toward me. "Even if it's a memory. I would be all the happier to see even a glimpse of the things I have forgotten. For even a moment. Even through someone else's eyes."

His voice was full of emotion. And though he seemed close to crying, no tears would come. For a soul can shed no tears, nor can it truly feel the world around it.

I nodded as I grasped the spirits hand. It was ethereal and like grasping cold air. But even as we made contact I let my memories of home flow. They were not really in order. But it was still alot of beautiful memories.

The clear blue sky letting the sun bathe the world in summer heat. Our family mansion sitting atop a hill with its broud lanes of green grass and flowers reflecting the light with their colors. The large oak and pine trees stood tall and proud on either side of the driveway. The oaks leaves changing colors with the seasons as they fell. Megan and I climbing the rough bark covered trunks.

Then came the rain and storms. The dark clouds where our family sat inside playing board games or reading by candle light because the power went out. The staff chasing us down the halls in their attempts to get us ready for important events.

My memories roared through my mind as a torrent. My grandfather's face seemed to smile little by little till I could see a peaceful look in his eyes. "I missed so much. But I'm glad I got to see it at the end." He said as a hand suddenly grasped my shoulder.

I was startled and turned to see Persephone standing by my side along with Aed. "It's time." She said. Her voice a calm whisper like a breeze as she turned to my grandfather. "I have waited a long time for you old one. It's not nice to leave a lady waiting." She said.

He let go of my hand and bowed low. "My apologies my lady. I was held up by important matters. Though... I hope to never deal with such things again in any lifetime I may have. Perhaps one could forgive this old man for an error made in haste?" He said as he stood up once more his head still lowered some in apology.

Persephone gave a slight grin. "You won't have to worry about that. We'll treat you to a nice relaxing restful life. One I hear you have more or less earned." She said as she gently led him away before both disappeared.

Aed stepped up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "What did you make of it all boyo? You think he was telling the truth?" His voice echoed through the space around us.

I nodded slowly as I seemed to examine my hand. Almost like it held something nostalgic and sad. "I showed him the home of my memories. But as you probably know that magic is a two way street. I showed him what he wanted. But in return I saw everything. He led a life as a shut in till a marriage agreement was forced on him.

His research was his priority but... He never truly mistreated my grandmother. And he always made time for her. No matter how annoyed he was. If anything I'd say it was the universe that is to blame this time. All he did was find a special rock and tested it just right. And that's all it took for his life to go straight to hell." My voice rumbled out. I had seen it all. Everything from start to finish. Right up to my Father's birth and my grandfather's disappearance. Even all the way up to the present.

I turned to Aed. "I know it all now." He smirked. "No laddie. You don't. But you might in time." He laughed a little as he patted my back.

"No. You don't get it. I know everything he knew." Aed frowned a little before a look of realization hit. "You don't mean..." I nodded.

All the mind numbingly insane amount of time. All those life lessons now compounded into my head. All his wisdom as well as knowledge. Including knowledge of the philosophers stone and it's creation process.