Cyril sat calmly on the brink of the Pool of Origin. The Reality Forge. It went by many, many names. Behind him churned what he knew as the source of all creation in any universe branching from the Universe 42 subset. Cyril was deep inside this temple once more after having given himself to the Reality Forge to be reborn and renewed for what he hoped was the last time. Cyril sat on the edge feeling cold, wet, and so very vulnerable as he was yet again without his customary wings. But Cyril knew he could finally stop the indefinite cycle of rebirth he had been trapped in for some time now. He had been pitching himself into the Pool behind him to keep himself alive for so long now. Cyril had been born with a debilitating disease which got progressively worse as he increased his power level. In his original universe, Universe 42A, this disease had been minor at most and would never actually stop someone as determined as him from getting powerful, but after extensive study, Cyril found that once he reached his final form in this universe, he would die and there was nothing he could do to stop it. There was no cure for what he had. That is, not any that was proven to work. Cyril had many possible cures lined up, but there was no way to know if they worked until he used them, but to do that he had to first reach his top transformation again. Recently, Cyril had found what seemed to be the only sure fire solution to his problem. It was a desperate and fool-hardy plan that could end in his death anyway, and not only that but bring untold horrors upon his adopted universe. However, Cyril was completely confident he could pull it off, and in doing so, give his allies a large advantage as well. Cyril stood on the brink of the Reality Forge for a reason today. This place was vital to his plans. At this place and on this day, he would bring back the Black Star Dragon Balls to Universe 42B. It sounded simple, but there was just one tiny problem. The Black Star Dragon Balls imploded upon the universal reset, and had never been recreated by the Pool of Origins. After much research, Cyril found that somewhere in that Pool was the essence of the Black Star Dragon Balls, and that if he was careful he could retrieve them to make his wish. Cyril stared down thoughtfully into the Reality Forge. This was uncharted territory. No one had ever delved into the Pool of Origin and not climbed back out immediately. No one had ever jumped into the Reality Forge with the intent to rip something from its depths. Cyril exhaled. No sense in worrying about the unknown for long. He swan dived into the Pool of Origin with a small splash. It was a surprisingly clean entrance. Truly an Olympic Medal worthy entrance. The Olympics include diving right? Whatever.
As soon as Cyril touched the water, his skin felt like it was burning. Now that he was at his base power level, the Pool of Origin had nothing to take away from him and was now draining his health in recompense. Cyril smoothly moved his arms and legs as he swam deeper and deeper into the pool. Cyril kept on swimmin’, kept on swimmin’, kept on swimmin’. As Cyril delved deeper and deeper, he saw no sign of anything other than the murky waters of the Pool. Cyril felt like he was on fire and he could hardly bear it. Cyril was slowly losing strength and he began to slow down. His muscles burned and his brain was fuzzy from the effects of the Pool of Origins. The waters got darker and darker and until Cyril couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. Or… maybe that was just his vision leaving him. Maybe Cyril was dying. A flash of dull panic coursed through Cyril. “You’re dying you idiot!” his body screamed at him. “Get out of here before it finishes you off!” But Cyril didn’t give up, he kept on mindlessly swimming down, down, down. Before long his vision returned to him, but he didn’t like what he saw. Cyril saw a vision of the day Heaven fell. Cyril could see his comrades fighting like devils on the battlefield; he could see the Ix’s cold eyes as they descended upon them; and, perhaps most disturbingly, he could see himself fighting amongst them. Cyril’s four wings were extended out fully and as he spun and danced among the enemies’, rows of Ix fell underneath his might. Many of Cyril’s closest friends fought beside him. At Cyril’s back fought a charming and fierce woman. She was cutting down Ix faster than even Cyril, and they stood no chance against her. This was Cyril’s wife, Lily. Cyril, back in the Pool of Origins felt his heart speed up as he remembered the day. The battlefield scene faded away until it was just Lily who remained. Lily turned to Cyril as if she knew he was there. “Why didn’t you save me?” Cyril shut his eyes tightly, he didn’t want to do this. “You could have done it, you know.” She whispered, her voice distorted by the water. “All you needed to do was go back!” Lily whispered venomously. “Couldn’t you have come back for me? Why didn’t you?” Cyril’s chest tightened and tears pricked his eyes. He shook his head. Cyril couldn’t speak from fear the water from the Pool of Origins would pour into his lungs and burn him on the inside. Cyril opened his eyes, regret etched into his face. Lily was gone now. Just as Cyril thought he had reached his threshold, he saw a dim light below him. Invigorated by this sudden ray of hope, Cyril swam with renewed energy towards it. Cyril’s stomach suddenly flipped and it felt like he was swimming up now, instead of down. Cyril finally breached the surface and he gasped with relief as he burning began to subside. Cyril flopped out of the Pool of Origins like a fish, still gasping from the sudden relief. His eyes were wet, and not just because he was just swimming around in the Pool of Origins. With a tremendous mental push, he managed to kick Lily out of his mind. Cyril didn’t have the time to severely regret the death of his wife.
Cyril pushed himself up from the surprisingly soft ground and took a look around at his surroundings. The temple built around the Pool of Origins was suddenly clean and well kept. The walls were decorated with brightly colored murals and there were no tombs in sight. Cyril looked back down at the Pool. Its water was still murky and thick, but the brick barrier around it was now embedded with valuable gems. Several scantily clad, bestial priests were prostrate and utterly silent around the Pool and Cyril. One such woman rose to her feet looking at Cyril wildly. “Er.. s-“ The woman’s eyes widened when Cyril began to speak and she instantly clamped her hand over his mouth. The priest dragged him out of the temple room containing the Reality Forge, and Cyril stumbled along with her. “It is forbidden for you to speak near the Reality Forge!” the woman hissed. “Well- I. Um. Sorry?” Cyril was completely taken aback to find these people here, and even more so to find that this woman wasn’t even surprised by his own sudden appearance. Cyril looked at the woman more closely, trying to determine her race. The woman was covered in sleek, blonde fur. Her body was distinctly Rava-ish, but she definitely wasn’t a Rava. She had stunning green eyes, and her clothes were fashioned from what appeared to be some sort of silk. Cyril had not encountered these people before in his travels. The woman sighed and let go of her annoyance. “It is alright. I can’t expect a traveler to know the ways of the Earthborn.” The woman beckoned for Cyril to follow her. “What is your name?” she asked. “I’m Cyril.” Cyril said, “What is yours?” The woman paused for a moment before answering. “Lily.” She said. Aw, damn, Cyril thought. “That’s a nice name.” Cyril muttered. Lily led Cyril into a fairly nice room. The walls were stone and the windows were barred, but there were plenty of nice furnishings and a table set. “Right through here.” Lily told him. Cyril into the room and Emily shut the door behind him and then locked it. “Sorry, Cyril!” she called from behind the door. “Nothing personal, we just have to keep new comers here so we can determine their motives.” Cyril sighed. “It’s fine, I understand.” Cyril heard Lily walk away. Cyril sat down at the set table and waited patiently. He wondered what all this was. Lily had mentioned something about being an Earthborn, but Cyril had never heard of them before. He thought that perhaps that was the name of her race, or maybe it was the name of whatever order ran this place. Cyril looked out the window casually. He squinted, was that sun blue? It looked pretty big too. Whatever planet he was on must be closely orbiting a dwarf star then. Cool. Cyril drummed his fingers on the table. Eventually, Cyril heard a group of people approaching. A small hole slid open on the door as a set of eyes looked inside. Seeing that Cyril was seated on the other side of the room, the person opened the door. A grizzled, older woman walked in followed closely by Lily and a buff man. She sat down across from Cyril and Lily sat to the right of her. The man, whom Cyril assumed was their guard, remained standing. The woman shifted uncomfortably in her seat and finally crossed her arms in front of her. “Name?” she asked in a deep voice. “Cyril.” Cyril answered. “Just Cyril?”
“Yup.”
“Titles or honorifics?”
“Lord of Heaven and President of Earth, but just call me Cyril.”
“Method of arrival?”
Here Lily answered for Cyril, “Cyril came from the Pool, Madame Vastra.”
Madame Vastra removed some papers from her robes. She stamped something. “Well, at least you’re not a time traveler.” She mumbled.
“I am, actually.” Cyril said politely.
“Yeah but you didn’t come here via a time machine. You swam.” Madame Vastra sighed. “Right?”
“Right.”
“Alright. So why the hell would you swim so far down the Pool to come here?”
Cyril shifted in his chair, unsure how to explain. “Well… where I came from there was a universal reset…”
Madame Vastra nodded. “And something important didn’t quite make it?”
Cyril nodded. “I came here in the belief that I could reintroduce the items to the universe.”
Madame Vastra sighed, “Brick, go fetch the List.” Brick grunted and left. Cyril waited for a moment until it seemed Madame Vastra wasn’t going to say anything.
“Where exactly am I?” Cyril asked.
“You’re at the Temple of Fabrication on the long dead planet that housed the Pool of Origins.” Madame Vastra said bluntly. “We are called the Earthborn, we run this place. The goal of this place is to make sure that the Universal Resets go smoothly in the future. We hold every item ever created in our Lists. We know this simply because we know this. Any other questions, Cyril?”
Cyril took a moment to chew this over. “No, I guess not.” Brick walked back in with a small, smooth stone and handed it to Madame Vastra. Madame Vastra took the rock and gestured at Cyril. “What’s the name of the items you wanted brought back?” Cyril looked a bit anxious, he felt like maybe this wouldn’t go over so well. “Er… the Black Star Dragon Balls.” Madame Vastra frowned deeply. “I’ve never heard of those before.” Lily looked confused. “Lily, Brick, leave. Now!” Lily and Brick hurriedly left, looking worried.
The smooth rock stared glowing a bit and a holographic image of the Black Star Dragon Balls appeared. The accompanying dragon rose menacingly in the background of the picture. “What do you want with these, Cyril?” Madame Vastra suddenly looked very dangerous. Like she might leap across the table and strangle Cyril to death if he answered wrongly. “A cure for my disability?” Cyril leaned back, quite worried he was about to be strangled. “What disability? You look and talk like a healthy man to me!” Madame Vastra snapped. “I have ki corruption.” Cyril said solemnly. “And there is no cure for that, correct?”
Madame Vastra leaned back into her chair. “Items involving ki corruption.” A small, blue list began scrolling in place of the holographic image of the Black Star Dragon Balls. Her eyes twitched. “Cyril, Lord of Heaven and President of Earth.” Cyril looked at her expectantly. Instead, the blue list turned into a model of Cyril and some stats besides him. Madame Vastra’s eyes widened. “None that I can tell you about.” Cyril’s eyes shone, “So, there is a cure?”
Madame Vastra put a hand over the rock and the image went back to the Black Star Dragon Balls. “Perhaps, but I cannot give you items beyond your timeline.”
Cyril frowned, “Well can you give me the Black Star Dragon Balls?”
“I can. But it’s not as simple as you might think.” Madame Vastra said, “You have to go through a few trials and find the blueprints for them.”
Cyril stood up, “Sounds easy enough.”
“And then you have to make them.”
Cyril sat back down, “Um. So these blueprints will tell me exactly how to make them right?”
Madame Vastra shrugged, “Presumably. No one has ever seen the blueprints for the Black Star Dragon Balls.”
Cyril stood back up. “Alright then, I can do it. Where do I start?”
Madame Vastra sighed, “Follow me.” Madame Vastra pushed herself up slowly from her chair. She walked out of the room and Brick and Lily fell in line behind her. Cyril followed her, a bit more slowly. He was beginning to worry about what he had gotten himself into. He hoped he could cope with the trials in his weakened state. Madame Vastra led Cyril into the Pool of Origins. She then shoved him in.
Madame Vastra, Brick, and Lily walked out of the room. “What happened in there, Madame Vastra?”
“He asked for one of the forbidden items.” Madame Vastra muttered.
“Which one?” grunted Brick.
“The Black Star Dragon Balls.”
Lily gasped, “But I thought we didn’t have those blueprints!”
“We have all the blueprints Lily, we’ve just never bothered to go fetch the Black Star Dragon Ball blueprints. It was too dangerous.” Madame Vastra sighed.
************
Cyril almost shouted when Madame Vastra pushed him into the Pool of Origins, but he remembered that there was no talking allowed in the room, so he was polite and did not shout when he was pushed into the Pool of Origins. Cyril’s skin began to burn again, but luckily the trip would be short this time. Cyril began swimming towards another source of blue light. It was very blue. Like backyard pool blue. Cyril really looked forward to getting to that blue light. That blue light made Cyril feel as if once he reached it, all his problems would be solved. Cyril was just so pumped to get to that blue light. Cyril swam as fast as he could to get to that blue light. Cyril’s new color was blue. He decided that just now.
It was a real shame that a bright yellow light from his left sucked him in like a whirlpool. Cyril felt like the goal of his entire life had just been torn away from him. He was absolutely devastated. He also really hated yellow now. Stupid yellow. Cyril was tossed from the Pool of Origins and he flew a few feet into the air. He landed hard on the ground. Cyril wasn’t in too much pain because for some odd the reason the ground was all spongy and stuff. Why was the ground spongy? Cyril asked himself. Cyril opened his eyes wider and looked down. The ground was yellow. Cyril hated it. Cyril looked up and found that the sky, or what he took to be the sky, was yellow too. Cyril hated it. Cyril felt such an intense hatred and feeling of rage growing inside of him that he was actually scared. Tears of rage dripped from his eyes and onto that damnable yellow floor or whatever it was. Cyril hated it. He hated everything so, so, SO much. Cyril couldn’t tell you why he was so made and why he was so filled with hate, but he was. Cyril began punching that stupid yellow ground. The ground, he was convinced, was the source of all his problems. That damn yellow ground was the anti-Cyril, and he hated it more than he had hated anything in his entire life. Cyril screamed until his throat was raw. Inside, Cyril was terrified. There was this unstoppable stream of rage inside him and he couldn’t do anything. But… maybe he could. Cyril tried his best to staunch the flow of rage, and he regained his sense for the moment. He looked around, grinding his teeth in suppressed rage. He saw an expanse of yellow, spongy ground and sky. The Pool of Origins sloshed calmly a few yards away. Another person was there too. He was face down, dead. Cyril tried to get up, but the ground underneath him was too spongy and he fell on his face. Cyril screamed with rage, muffled by the yellow ground. He probably screamed for another sixty seconds before he could control himself again. A feeling of dread filled his stomach. He was scared of himself. Cyril slowly crawled to the Pool of Origins. He was choking on a shout and his face was scrunched together in effort.
Finally, Cyril made it to the Pool of Origins and dragged himself in. Cyril fell into the Pool and immediately felt the now familiar burning sensation of the Pool. Cyril again swam until his saw the blue light. The hope and joy that the blue light brought returned to Cyril again and he felt like going through that damnable yellow room had been absolutely worth it now that he could enter the blue light. Cyril swam and he suddenly his joy was tempered with dread. What am I walking into? Cyril wondered. It was too late for doubts though- the blue light had already sucked Cyril in.
Cyril rolled out of the pool and onto the dark stones of the temple. He flew sideways for a few feet. What the hell? Cyril wondered bewilderedly. Cyril looked around and found that he was in the same temple as before, but this time it looked more like it did during the present day. The place looked like it was dead. Empty tombs lined the walls. There was no door, only a short hallway into a shine. Cyril got up slowly, his sense of dread growing ever more strong. He walked cautiously into shrine room. It was pitch black, but somehow Cyril could see a raised pedestal on which rested the seven Black Star Dragon Balls. Cyril grabbed them all and cradled them in his arms. Somehow they didn’t seem right, as if they weren’t all there. It didn’t matter though, he had gotten what he had come for. Cyril turned right around and jumped into the pool, keeping his dragon balls in his arms. Cyril sank quickly, weighed down by the Black Star Dragon Balls. Down, down, down he sank and things got darker and darker until finally he popped back out at the temple. The one with people in it. Cyril tip toed around the prostrate priests. He was pretty sure these were different priests. Cyril walked out and waited for someone to notice the random intruder. It took a surprising amount of time for anyone to notice he was back. Finally, a considerably older looking Lily crossed his path and did a double take. “Cyril?” she asked, surprised. “Yeah, that’s me.” Cyril waved awkwardly with the Black Star Dragon Balls still in his arms. Lily shook her head, “Of course. We thought you had died trying to retrieve the blueprints.”
“Nope. I’m a bit tougher than that. So, how do I make these whole?” asked Cyril.
“Just throw them into the pool.” Lily said quickly as if she was late for something. “Then jump in after them. You’ll find you have them in your possession back in your home timeline. Good bye, Lord Cyril of Heaven.” The older Lily simply left Cyril.
Cyril walked right back into the temple that housed the Pool of Origins. He observed the prostrate priests that surrounded it. Cyril stepped right over them and tossed the Black Star Dragon Balls in the pool. Cyril jumped in right after them.
Word Count: 3,509 (I have the second dragon radar upgrade)
