He Who Knows All (96)

Akasan frowned. "How can you do that?"

The man held out a hand. Black-purple energy started flowing all over it. "Because I've already learned how to use it."

Akasan marveled at how easily the man could just start using Nil.

The man sat up. "I've never seen a person's eyes change because of Nil though. Tell me, do you have any ocular powers?"

Akasan nodded. "I have a Kamigen."

The man froze. He put a hand to his chin. He abruptly stood up, walking around the room in a rushed pace. "Kamigen... Kamigen... what is that?"

Akasan looked at him. "It's an eye that forms when the Eye of Creation, Destruction, and Realms come together."

The man perked up. "You have all three? Naturally?"

Akasan nodded.

The man got close to him. "You *HAVE* to show me!"

Akasan felt slightly uneasy by how jovial the man had gotten.

Frost was careful to keep an eye on him.

Akasan's Nil died down, and he activated the Eye of Creation in his right eye and the Eye of Destruction in his left.

The masked man sparkled with wonder. "Amazing! Somehow the bloodlines crossed at a singular point throughout time! Just marvelous!"

Akasan turned his eyes off. He scratched the back of his head. "Um, mister? It's kind of awkward talking to a guy in a mask. I'd be more relaxed if I could see your face."

The man stood up straight. He glanced back at Frost. "Very well." He grabbed the mask and slid it off. He was a middle aged man, with blue eyes and pale skin. "My name is Norman."

Akasan smiled a little. "Nice to meet you Norman."

Norman nodded. "Same to you. Now," Norman pulled out a tape measurer and started taking account of random lengths of Akasan's body. "Tell me, why do they call you the 'Dark Angel'?"

Akasan shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not an angel. I just use crimson flames and Sirius energy."

Norman nodded. "I see, I see. And, do you use those powers simultaneously?"

Akasan shook his head. "I can't. Crimson fire doesn't mix with other energies except Nil."

Norman nodded enthusiastically. "Hmm, hmm! And have you learned to control this Nil? If not, what are the requirements needed to bring it out?"

"It comes out when I get angry. I can't control it when it comes out all the way. As I am now I can only control a small portion of it."

Norman nodded some more. He held Akasan's arms up and started squeezing his shoulders and biceps. "You have a powerful muscular structure. Do you often train under high-intensity gravity?"

Frost's facial expression twitched. Akasan noticed too.

The Simulator was a secret kept in Arbok.

The rest of the world knows nothing of it.

"How did you...?" Akasan asked.

Norman waved his hand in front of his face. "No I'm not psychic or anything, I can simply tell by how your muscles are structured. They've been subject to high gravity as if you lived on a different planet. How peculiar, I thought. But I will tell you, gravity training is utterly pointless at your current level."

Akasan looked at him. "How so?"

Norman walked circles around Akasan. "Well, I can tell you now that you are far from the strongest person your age in the world. Gravity training is helpful for those who wish to gain basic strength, but you want to train your Soul Chamber, not your muscles. The Soul Chamber is like a heart. The more you work it out, the quicker and more efficiently will it pump out energy. It differs greatly from magic, where you don't have to train much to use it efficiently. Magic simply requires memorization of spell combinations."

Akasan thought he'd imagined it, but he caught a whiff of something. It was just for a split second, but he felt a god's presence from Norman.

Frost narrowed his eyes. He looked at Akasan. "Akasan. Do you trust this man?"

Akasan looked at Norman. While mysterious and eccentric he was, there was no malice in his eyes.

Akasan nodded. "Yeah. I trust him."

Frost looked at Norman, then sighed. "I'll leave him here then. I have work to do. Good luck."

Frost left the throne room. The doors closed behind him.

Norman took a deep breath. "Ah, so much better. I can't be myself when someone is consistently watching my every move."

Akasan stood up. "What do you mean, 'yourself'?"

Norman looked at him. "Well for starters, 'Norman' is just my cover up name."

He waved his right hand in front of his own face.

Akasan watched as his hair color went from a dirty blonde to a golden blonde. The middle-aged wrinkles on his face disappeared, knocking decades off of his appearance. His eyes morphed from blue to a deep, rich, gold. Almost like fire was in his eyes. He smiled. "My birth name is Amun."

All of a sudden Akasan felt the god presence return. He fell back on the ground from shock and backed up to the wall. "A-A-A-Amun?!!"

Amun tapped his foot. The floor, ceiling, and walls of the throne room started glowing a translucent purple color. "Now we won't have to worry about being bothered." He looked at Akasan. "Something wrong?"

Akasan pointed at him. "Something wrong?! You're *ANCIENT*!! Why are you even here?!"

Amun laughed. "Kid I'm immortal. It's nigh impossible for me to die. Does this place have any good alcohol?"

Akasan nervously shook his head. "There's no alcohol in the palace."

Amun shook his head sadly. "A waste of space this is then." He held his hand out.

A table magically appeared out of nowhere with a bottle of golden-brown liquor and a small glass. He poured himself some. He looked at Akasan. "Care for a drink?"

Akasan slowly stood back up with his back against the wall. "I don't drink. But how did you do that?" He pointed at the table.

Amun looked puzzled. "What do you mean? It's Creation." He threw his head back as he drank the liquid. "Ahhh, that's the stuff." He poured another glass and started walking around the room. He glanced out the window. "So tell me. How long was I gone? A hundred, two hundred years maybe?"

Akasan did the math in his head. "A little over eight hundred years?"

Amun nearly choked on his drink. "Eight hundred? That can't be right. What year is it?"

"Year 1364."

Amun froze while looking at Akasan. "947." he said. "It's been 947 years. This is amazing..."

Akasan looked confused. "What is?"

Amun turned around and looked back outside. "I originally calculated that the world would end in no more than three hundred years. The fact that it's been three times longer is a miracle!" He turned to look at Akasan. "So who defeated my mother?"

Akasan tilted his head. "Who's your mother?"

"Nyx. Goddess of the Night?"

"Your mother is *Nyx?!*"

Amun slowly nodded. "That is what I said I believe. Who killed her?"

Akasan scratched his head. "Uhh... Nyx is still alive."

This time Amun spit out his drink. "And the world is intact? Something's not right. Why hasn't she taken over the world by now?"

Akasan held his finger up. "A long time ago someone named Sirius fought Nyx. He took both of her eyes from her to seal away her power."

Amun scoffed. "That's ridiculous. Nyx's power can't be sealed away. If what you say is true, then that means it's only a matter of time before she regains her eyes."

Akasan got nervous. "A matter of time? What's that supposed to mean?"

Amun's face was serious now. "Tell me. Has anyone in recent history ever had latent creation or destruction ability?"

Akasan thought about it. "Umm... yeah, we had a short war with two gods some years back, Ryuga and Naesrio, but Ryuga's good now."

Amun sipped his drink. "What happened to the other one?"

"Jasper killed him and took the body."

"And who is Jasper?"

"One of Nyx's Phantoms."

Amun chuckled as he drank his alcohol. "Yeah the world's ending soon."

"Huh?" Akasan said. "What's wrong?"

Amun poured himself more liquor. "It's scientifically possible to turn Ultimate Destruction into Ultimate Creation. Ultimate Creation can be altered into Ultimate Healing."

Akasan froze. "You mean...?"

Amun nodded. "Nyx will be revived in less than ten years from now. Depends on how long it takes them to catch on. Could be a few weeks."

Akasan ran up to Amun. "Well what do we do?! You're strong right?! Why don't you go defeat her while she's not at her strongest?!"

Amun laughed. "No."

Akasan slumped. "What do you mean, no?! This is life or death!"

Amun looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "It's life or death for YOU. I honestly don't care. I won't die either way. This world is like a sandbox. My mother sees it that way as well. She wants everyone to bow down to her, but I'd rather see individuality. That's the only thing that separates us. Humans are nothing more than intelligent bacteria to us." He pointed at Akasan. "But you're not completely human. If you want Nyx dead, either you do it, or find someone who will. I've fought Nyx before, to protect what I love. I have nothing left, so it doesn't matter to me whether you live or die. However, I will say that I've taken an interest in you. As I've said before, I can teach you to control your Nil, but that's as far as I'm willing to take you."

Akasan balled his fists. "Fine. But tell me one thing. How powerful is Nyx?"

Amun smiled. "Powerful is an insult. She can destroy planets with a tap of her foot."

Akasan shuddered at that statement.

Amun laughed. "Don't worry, she won't actually do it. She somewhat cares for this planet. In her own way I suppose. She can be killed. I figured it out. But it'll take the most ingenious talent you'd ever think possible."

Akasan's face lit up. "And what's that?"

Amun took a sip. "I might tell you later. For now figure it out yourself." He laughed as he walked towards the door.

The barrier went down and Amun's face reverted to the middle aged man called Norman. He looked at Akasan.

"Don't call me Amun in public. I'll erase your memory if you do." he said with a smile. "Meet me at Mount Vulcan in three hours." 'Norman' said as the doors closed behind him.

Akasan shook, then yelled out in frustration.