Dream Rise House.
Inside a bedroom, Felicity was lying on the bed. She has recovered from the external injuries she suffered previously.
On a chair besides the bed, Zed was sitting.
"Are you truly fine?" Felicity asked.
"Yes," Zed nodded his head, "I’m sorry for worrying you."
"What happened back then?" Felicity stared into his eyes to make sure he doesn’t lie.
"A psychic mutant attacked me," Zed knew he has to state some truth, "Rest assured he would never trouble me again."
"I see," Felicity brought a pillow from the bed and without any warning, struck Zed with it.
"I didn’t lie," Zed backed away with a sore face.
"Now you didn’t but what about the time at the cafeteria?" Felicity stood up from the bed.
"I could explain," Zed tried to reason. He was fully exhausted after his other form spent all his energy.
"I don’t want an explanation," Felicity said as she took another pillow.
-------
Evening.
Agatha’s apartment.
Kiba was lying next to Agatha on a bed. She was reading a book with complete concentration.
Kiba’s eyes moved from her face to her stomach. He placed his hand on her belly.
"Hope, I’m sorry for putting you in danger," Kiba muttered in his heart, "I would kill everyone who was responsible for today’s incident."
After thinking about the incident with a calm mind, he was sure the initial target was Zed and not Kiba. He mainly guessed this due to how the monk acted when Castor Damon’s memories were played.
"There is something strange though," Kiba contemplated further, "He sounded like he knew about Hope even before my transformation, but yet he was startled by my transformation. Only after the transformation, he became greedy about my power."
"What are you thinking?" Agatha placed the book on the table.
"Nothing much," Kiba moved back, "Would you like to go out for a dinner?"
"Not today," Agatha stretched her hands, "I’m tired."
"We should just order delivery," Kiba said.
He knew she was tired after using her powers in the morning when the pressure from dark clouds arrived.
Even he was tired but he has injected multiple energy serums to stay awake. He wanted to spend some time with Agatha before taking a rest.
"Yeah," Agatha looked at him, "No hunt today?"
"...No," Kiba felt awkward by the words.
"I don’t want you to confine yourself," Agatha traced a finger in his hairs, "Otherwise you might resent me and our child for stopping your pursuit of dreams"
"I never would," Kiba disagreed.
It was his own decision to give priority to his role as a father more than the dreams he carried. He has a long lifespan and he believed he has all the time in the world to fulfill his dreams.
Even if he could not, it would be fine as long as he could become a good father.
"Maybe not," Agatha said with a smile, "But believe me parents do resent their children for their incomplete dreams."
"....." Kiba understood her words.
He would be lying if he said he hasn’t thought about the effect of having a child on his dreams. Perhaps not today but maybe tomorrow he would resent them for binding him down.
The will of people change with time. The well thought out decisions of today might become regret of tomorrow.
There was no telling about the future.
"The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams," Agatha repeated the words he has said when he shared his dreams with her, "Surely you are not going to stop the biggest adventure of your life?"
"..."
"Besides there are husbands who are waiting to become good husbands," Agatha said with a teasing smile, "At least for their happiness don’t stop your adventure."
Kiba’s eyes turned wide in astonishment.
"Or was it making a wife into a good wife?" Agatha continued in a teasing tone, "You want a wife to complete her promise of making her husband happy, right?"
"...You know?!" Kiba’s face was soaked with sweat.
He has never given her the business card of Wife Pleasuring Service Pvt. Ltd. He was shameless but not so shameless to give her the card during their affair or even before it.
They have known each other for years even though the affair occurred a few months ago. He knew her personality and she was rather good to him long before, so he couldn’t bring himself to use the card.
"Yes," Agatha brought out a crystal card from a drawer, "You do have a gift with the words."
"...Thanks?" Kiba didn’t know whether it was an insult or a compliment.
"There are four promotional videos with that blonde woman," Agatha activated the crystal card, "I was most impressed with the one reserved for fiancee."
"..."
The videos were directed at husbands, new wife, patron wife, and fiancee. Each video was shot with Natalie as the host who would try to recruit customers for Wife Pleasuring Service Pvt. Ltd.
She would use her sweet voice and ’facts’ to lure customers to their non-profit venture. A service which offered endless benefits and that too free of cost.
Even Natalie was flushed red when Kiba brought the idea for fiancee. She had a hard time shooting the video with a straight face.
"There is something I wanted to ask," Agatha placed the crystal card back.
"Yes?" Kiba was relieved she wasn’t going to play those videos.
"I could understand your dream of sleeping with every beauty out there whether she is a virgin or not," Agatha looked at him in the eyes, "But I don’t understand your dream of stealing others wife for an affair while their husbands die of envy and shame."
"..."
"Is there a reason why you have this specific dream?" Agatha asked.
She knew he hasn’t truly started pursuing this dream of his. So far he has only had affairs in secret with husbands being ignorant most times.
This dream was almost impossible to fulfill so she wondered why he would this dream in the first place.
"There is a reason," Kiba said as he remembered a meeting with an auburn-haired woman, "Do you truly wish to know?"
"Yes," Agatha listened carefully as he shared a story of the past...
-------------
The monastery, State of Avalon.
The once peaceful and serene monastery was now filled with chaos as monks rushed from one place to another. Most of the buildings in the monastery were now showing signs of cracks as they suffered sudden vicissitudes of time.
Inside a camp-like structure, Kurtis was seated in a chair next to five monks. Some distance ahead, Akshobhya was sleeping a few feet above the ground.
Three monks were continuously generating a force field to make sure Akshobhya doesn’t touch the ground.
The once revered Psychic Hunter was now an ancient man on the verge of death. His body was decayed and rotten filled with diseases.
Even with the force field, others could smell the foul stench his body was releasing.
"Are you not going to share the details?" A monk named Asahi asked. He was the second in command of the monastery.
"I already told you what I knew," Kurtis said with a frown, "And I’m in no obligation to share the task Akshohya was carrying out."
Asahi was annoyed by the attitude but he didn’t dare use force due to the involvement of Dharma Chakra.
"You should be pleased I’m not asking for compensation," Kurtis continued further, "My payment of Dharma Chakra coin and mutated fruits has gone to waste."
"How dare you!" One of the monks stood up in anger, "Don’t you see the destruction you have caused in the monastery? We have lost our ancient treasures!"
"None of my business," Kurtis said.
"Enough," Asahi turned his face towards the three monks, "Has the force of decay settled down?"
"Yes," A monk answered.
"Good," Asahi stepped towards Akshobhy and signaled the monks to remove the force field, "I would enter his consciousness to decide our next course of action."
"We understand," the monks stepped back.
A few minutes later, Akshobhya was placed on the ground. Asahi placed a finger on Akshobhya’s forehead.
Swoosh~!
Rays of light enveloped their bodies as Asahi’s consciousness entered Akshobhya’s consciousness.
The body of a person is mortal but consciousness, on the other hand, is immortal. Even a person on death bed would have his consciousness as strong as the day he was born.
Most people in the world call consciousness as the soul. The eternal existence which would exist even after death.
When a person’s consciousness is attacked, there is no destruction or damage. Yes, memories could be wiped out, or a person might be put to coma or vegetative state.
This is not due to damage to consciousness but in fact, it is damage to the brain. It is brain where consciousness resides and any attack to consciousness damages brain.
This is why Asahi wanted to directly enter consciousness to know the truth of the incident. He was a psychic just like Akshobhya so he knew about the workings of consciousness better than the others.
"Impossible!" Asahi muttered in horror after entering the consciousness of Akshobhya.
All his life he has believed the consciousness is different from the body. It was eternal and couldn’t be harmed like body but now his entire belief was shattered.
The consciousness of Akshobhya was decayed just like his body.
No!
His consciousness was still decaying, unlike the body which has stopped decaying any further.
Even the pain of losing a limb couldn’t compare to the slightest injury to consciousness. The pain receptors which are responsible for pain sensation were connected to the brain which in turn is linked to consciousness.
From this, it could be imagined the sufferings one would undergo if the consciousness was harmed in the slightest.
Now the consciousness of Akshobhya was slowly corroding. It was like a drop of acid was regularly dropped on the consciousness to make sure the pain never ends.
"It is an eternal torture," Asahi dreaded the misery his friend was undergoing, "He is alive but in a worse condition than someone who is in a vegetative state."
A person in a vegetative state would show no sign of awareness. Akshobhya was in a similar state but the corrosion of the consciousness made sure there would be only torment and discomfort till the time he dies.
"His body has aged and decayed but he would survive for few years," Asahi contemplated, "If I was him, I would rather prefer death."
What he didn’t know was that Akshobhya has tried to choke himself to death but failed under the pressure of golden ripples. Akshobhya has realized Kiba’s intention when the latter transmitted his power from the satellite.
Asahi cautiously avoided the corrosive force inside Akshobhya’s consciousness. He sent his mental force around and noticed all memories were wiped out by the corrosion.
"No! There is one memory!" Asahi was delighted.
He was sure that this memory should be very important seeing how Akshobhya’s consciousness has safeguarded it till now.
"Maybe this memory is a clue to his current state?" Asahi thought as he linked with the memory fragment.
----
*
"Sometimes you should follow what you preach about greed," Kurtis said as he offered mutant fruits to Akshobhya for the task.
*
----
"That’s it!?" Asahi wanted to curse.
What was so important in the preaching about greed?
Is this really supposed to be the cause of his current state?!