The door opens to a widely smiling beauty whose greeting instantly died in her throat. She lets out an airy sound of confusion that can only be encapsulated by a "?"
Mark quickly grabs her and moves her inside before she can scream. Covering her mouth, "Hi, love. Before you say anything or try to do anything, yes, it's me. Yes, this is what I meant when I talked to you earlier today. And now, after you calm down, I need you to stay quiet and let me explain while you ask questions after I'm done, deal?"
Taking his hand off her mouth, she nods while staring at him dumbfounded. She then stares at his parents, whose transformations are no less obvious than his. "Wh-What the fuck happened, Mark?"
…
After a 10 minute explanation that covered all bases, Olivia once again stared at him in awe and confusion.
"Mark. You can't just expect me to… to just believe everything you're saying, I mean you just told me you met GOD. How does that even happen? It - It's just ridiculous."
Olivia was a woman of Baptist faith, and despite not being the most devoted practitioner of Christianity, it didn't mean her belief was any less real. To tell her that he met God was a direct challenge to her own reality. Sure, she believed, but to be given irrefutable proof of divine intervention put her in an impossible state of confusion.
"Babe, I know, but I-I need you to believe me. Other than me and my parents standing in front of you, I can't really give you anything else as proof without you experiencing it yourself. W-What if I told you that I can do this for you too. You, your sister, and your parents. I want you all to join me... I couldn't live forever without you, without my world." Despite the jumbled mess of words, the sincerity in his voice and love on his face made her put trust in her boyfriend of four years.
She was also the same as Mark, inseparable from her parents and willing to do anything to keep them forever. "You mean they can become young again? We could… live… forever? I'd get to have my sister forever?" Her world view was crumbling and her image of the future shifting to something foreign and a little scary. The trajectory of her life was changing before her eyes. Mark, however, was thankful that she began to think about it more.
On the other hand, he was already getting a little tired of seeing everyone have the same reaction. While it was, indeed, fantastical, he didn't want to have everyone doubt him one at a time and then spend time convincing them beyond what they saw with their eyes. Mark decided that he'll just let them get it out all at the same time. Then, once they agreed, he'd begin the metamorphosis for all of them at one time.
I can't take everyone's family, though. I just need to hope that the people I've chosen will understand that limited spots means I need to be… picky, unfortunately.
"Yep," popping the p, he continues, "and you know what? Have them come pick you up on Sunday, and I'll get everyone else here. Because, it will take far too long to do it one at a time and we have work to do."
"I - I need time to, uh, think about this. It's too overwhelming right now, Mark. What about everyone else we know? How would they react when they see… this? What about -"
Mark pulls her into a deep caring embrace. "Shhh. My love, it'll all be okay, it'll all work out. Trust me. When have I led you astray?"
She begins to visibly calm in his hug, "You're not as soft as before, but I could get used to this." She begins pinching and poking at his arms, before looking up at him.
They stare into each others' eyes and slowly meet in a kiss. It's a tender kiss filled with love that melts away all of their shared anxiety for the future.
William and Grace wisely retreat from the front door area where the tender moment is being shared between their child and future daughter-in-law.
Olivia rests her head against his chest, "I missed you. Every day I don't see you, I miss you."
"Me too, my love. Me too. Now, we can truly begin our forever together. I can't wait."
That makes her face light up like a firework. "Oh my gosh, yes!" With a squeal, she begins talking about wedding dates, color palettes, and what kind of house she wants. Anything to get her brain off the mind boggling information dump she's received in the last 15 minutes.
A few hours later, after dinner, they laid down in his bed, cuddling. After a short period of comfortable silence, Olivia asks two questions that have been burning at the top of her mind. "How do we, uh, do it? And will it hurt?" She looks over at him with watery eyes. Her brown eyes holding the light of his universe in them.
"I can start whenever you're ready. And…" He can't bear to lie to her, "yeah. It'll hurt, a lot. But, when it's over, it'll feel like you're at the top of the world."
She looks at him, pleading with her eyes to find a way to make it not hurt. "Mark… I'm scared. I don't want it to hurt." She almost starts hyperventilating, despite not knowing the extent of the pain, when she heard the gravity in his voice when talking about the pain, she knew it'd be unlike anything she felt before.
"I'm sorry, baby. I wish I could change it, but you don't become superhuman without a little bit of pain. Just… when you open your eyes next, it'll be over. You'll be okay, my love."
After a few minutes of mentally preparing herself, on the verge of tears, she gives him the go-ahead to start.
God, if you can hear me, give me a quick yes or no on whether it is necessary for her to go through that pain, I don't want to hurt her.
Mark feels the flow of time slow around him again as a warm voice enters his mind. "I think you know that she needs to experience this, Mark. None of your chosen will be able to go as far as you'll need them to go if they don't experience any hardship. This may be the most physically painful thing they experience for a long time, but be certain that this is not the most mental anguish any of you will encounter."
Time resumes its march, Mark's eyes become steely with resolve. "I'll be right here when you wake up, my love." With a kiss, her transformation began.
With a sigh, Mark begins a cultivation session, determined to explore the limits of his bone refinement.
…
A sea of gold as far as the eye can see. The bones glow with an ethereal shine that pulses with each beat of the heart. A Qi resonance pauses this pulsing rhythm, and excites the cells that have been optimized to absorb and utilize the earthly Qi.
Unbeknownst to him, Mark's soul pulses with power as it prepares for another baptism while he tempers his will. The feeling of ants return, then the burning, until just a few seconds later, it pauses.
Qi is absorbed into the marrow like a vacuum, then a freezing chill invades his body. It felt like an ice bath in liquid nitrogen; like the deepest, coldest depths of the void entered his body and refused to leave.
The change in his bones was happening in real time, this time, rather than after the session finishes. Just five minutes into this internal Winter, nearly twenty percent of the gold luster was replaced by an iridescent darkness that shone like the night sky, peppered with stars.
As time passed, that void invaded his golden bones, like an infection. From a heavenly shine to a greedy vacuum of Qi, Mark spent more focus fighting the growing cold than looking at his progress. Every minute stretched into an eternity.
Steady breaths and a firm will marked the different between this session and his precious two. His mind had been tempered and he saw the pervasive cold as just another hill to climb.
At fifty percent, the demand for Qi drastically increased. Despite the infinite reserve provided by God, he suddenly needed to control and direct more than he had ever required in the past. This nearly threw his state of mind off, but he quickly adapted and pulled harder on the depths of the well of Qi in his body.
As he continually satisfied the greed within his bones, the cold grew in tandem. If a feeling like bathing in liquid helium could be described, this would be it. The closest to absolute zero humanity had achieved could only feel like this.
It just doesn't end.
Finally, after what felt like forever, his bones stopped absorbing Qi altogether. If one were to look at his skeleton, they would see pitch black bones with glittering stars in various constellations all throughout the structure. The chill abated, but lingered faintly, as if it would always emulate the cold, unforgiving vacuum of space.
The shine of the stars brightened and dimmed, as though the universe was breathing within Mark's body. Finally, it settled into the same rhythm of his bones resonant Qi frequency, constantly and greedily expanding its own intake of Qi, like an expanding universe.
Mark felt a sense of rightness well up inside him. As if a part of his body was complete. I've finally finished it. Looking at the clock, only 30 minutes passed by. Why was it 30 minutes every time? Add it to the list of things I need to look into.
Exhaustion took him soon after, and hearing the soft breathing of Olivia next to him, he enjoyed a dreamless sleep. Tomorrow, he'd wake up to another day of drastic change in his life.