A soft and soothing violin-like noise played within the white space. I looked around, but there was no one but me and The Mother. I turned to look at The Mother once again. I had sat there in confusion for about a minute, the Mother staying quiet, allowing the gears in my mind to turn.
Pursing my lips, I pushed myself to break the silence.
"Why would a goddess want to speak with me? Or give me anything for that matter."
The Mother's eyes narrowed as she listened, as if I was asking the obvious. She studied me for a few moments, her eyes moved across my body as if to swallow me whole.
I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.
"Is something wrong?"
She closed her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. Her hand moved, reaching for my chest and pressing her finger onto it. For a moment, nothing happened, but then a bright light shot out from me, along with an immolating heat.
"AGH"
I collapsed to the ground, an unbearable pain coursing through my veins. I writhed on the ground, my muscles spasming. I felt all the liquid in my body boiling away, my skin peeling away. The pain I felt now couldn't be compared to anything I've ever felt before, even the horrible pain from the crimson heart paled in comparison.
Pop
A popping sound resounded in my mind as my vocal cords tore from the pained howl I let out, as a worse pain washed over me. The world became black as my eyes imploded, as a red mist spewed from me, forming a dome around me, like a crimson marble, trapping and concentrating the heat.
At this point, my skin was already a puddle under me, my muscles tearing and melting away. There was almost nothing left of me. I didn't know how I was even alive to feel the pain, my brain and heart long been destroyed, nothing to keep me alive but I was, feeling every moment of the searing pain. Even then, I should have long passed out, but I hadn't... No, I couldn't. For some reason, I was unable to fall unconscious.
Fsssh
Or so I thought. A sharp fizzing sound echoed within the red mist as it slowly changed colour, becoming a shining golden hue. As the colour changed, my consciousness followed as all my senses dulled.
My eyes opened, finding myself floating in a dark void, a sea of gold, from that sea, a golden thread rose so high I couldn't see the end. At its base, a cracked and incomplete pillar was built.
It took me a moment, but my memories, ones that shouldn't be there, but are nonetheless, stirred, and I realized where I was, I was in my origin point, a special location that uniquely existed within all things, and this... This was mine.
I drifted closer to the pillar and touched it. I felt a tingling sensation in my chest, but I ignored it and slid my fingers across its surface, causing the tingling sensation to strengthen. As it became too uncomfortable, I removed my hand from the pillar and allowed my memories to stir further as I circled the pillar.
This pillar was an incomplete soul pillar, made from origin. As such, it was deeply connected to the soul.
'Guess that's why it felt uncomfortable.'
These pillars were pivotal in awakening advancement. To advance the stages of awakening, mystics needed to create these pillars, each signifying the corresponding stage. As a mystic slowly perfects these pillars, they become closer to creating a new pillar and advancing to the next stage.
There are five stages in total: Null, Enchanted, Attuned, Aligned, and Transendent. Currently, I was none of these, basically a normal person if not for the crimson heart that partially created a pillar to give me these powers.
I turned my attention to the golden sea. Normally, one's origin point should be empty save for the pillars; neither this golden sea nor thread should be here. My memories stirred and my mind throbbed, but I couldn't remember; the unknown memories were being blocked, at least the ones connected to the golden sea and thread.
'Weird,' I thought. It truly was strange, gaining memories I shouldn't have, then them suddenly being blocked from being remembered.
"Quite strange indeed." A whisper sounded beside me.
I jolted, quickly turning to look but finding no one. I frowned, staring for a few seconds before turning my attention to the pillar once again.
'First and foremost, I needed to deal with this.' If I didn't, it would lead to my death.