Origins: The Absolute

Chapter 14: Embracing The Void

Two years had passed since my integration with The Twelve Sigils began. The sterile training chambers, with their ever-shifting layouts and unyielding challenges, had become a second home. Each session was a relentless test of my endurance, forcing me to confront my deepest fears and harness the abysmal void within me.

During this time, I had started to refer to my fellow Sigils by their numbers. It wasn't a conscious decision, but one that crept into my thoughts and speech naturally. The intensity of their auras, the unique manifestations of their powers, had become as familiar to me as my own reflection.

Today, the training area hummed with a palpable energy. I stood at the center, watching the other Sigils move through their routines. Their auras flickered and pulsed, each one a distinct signature of their abilities and connection to Okriummorphite.

1 approached, his aura a steady, pulsating presence that mirrored his ability to manipulate minds. His probing questions and mental exercises had forced me to delve into my psyche, confronting fears and doubts I hadn't even realized I harbored. “How are you feeling today, 13?” he asked, his voice calm yet probing.

“I’m managing,” I replied, offering a small smile. “Your exercises are becoming less overwhelming, at least.”

He nodded, a flicker of approval in his eyes. “Good. Your resilience is improving. You’ll need that strength in the times ahead.”

As he moved away, I noticed 2 in the distance, his metallic constructs glinting in the artificial light. His ability to manipulate metals had initially seemed insurmountable, but now it was another challenge to overcome. I nodded at him, receiving a brief but acknowledging tilt of his head in return.

Nearby, 3 was creating time distortions, her movements a blur as she sped through her exercises. Her control over time within localized areas had once left me disoriented, but now I could almost anticipate her shifts, adjusting my actions to match her altered temporal field.

4, with his control over gravity, was levitating heavy objects with ease. His burly frame exuded a sense of weight and density, and his training sessions had taught me to brace myself for sudden shifts in gravitational pull. He met my gaze with a brief nod, his eyes a reflection of his immense power.

In another corner, 5 was coaxing plants to grow with a mere touch, his serene presence a calming contrast to the intensity of the training environment. His control over biological processes had become a familiar challenge, one that tested my adaptability and quick thinking.

6, ever the storm of electromagnetic energy, was generating arcs of lightning, her slender form a blur of motion. Her sudden bursts of electricity had always caught me off guard, but now my reflexes were honed to respond to the unpredictable fields she created.

7’s training sessions had become a focal point for me, given his power to warp reality itself paralleled closely to my own abilities. Today, he had conjured a labyrinthine space where the laws of physics twisted and turned upon themselves. Paths looped in on each other, gravity shifted without warning, and distances stretched and compressed unpredictably.

“Focus, 13,” 7’s voice echoed through the maze, seeming to come from all directions at once. “Your powers are strongest when you understand the nature of the space you inhabit. Adapt to the shifts, and learn to manipulate the reality around you.”

I concentrated, feeling the pull of my quantum abilities. The abysmal void within me resonated with the warped space, and I began to sense the underlying patterns in 7’s creation. I blinked out of one loop, appearing at the end of another, navigating the labyrinth by bending the rules of reality to my will.