Or, at least it WAS utterly immobile. Up until the day he finally moved past its location.

The moment prince Sylvester Tricko reached it, that infant soul immediately begin float around him in an orbital pattern. It was as if this soul had taken the prince was its sun, it's everything. So every few seconds he would see lifeless husks where the infant soul's eyes should have been, as it kept pa.s.sing the front of his own face.

Occasionally the Sky Fall flame, which was merged with the soul of the prince, would erupt and devour all infant souls in an ever-increasing range. At first, it was merely ten feet. It evolved to be a few kilometers. Then, it expanded to swallow a few dozen kilometers worth of souls. Finally, over 100 kilometers worth of souls were devoured and converted into pure energy. The energy fed the nirvana flame and sublimated Prince Tricko's soul.

Sylvester had no idea how many poor souls he had exterminated, but he was unconcerned with this. Was their current fate much better than obliteration?

His soul light turned from forest green to baby blue. Prince Tricko, however, had no control over these eruptions of the sky fall flame at first. It was involuntary. Perhaps it was the nirvana flame's own survival instinct, or maybe it was his own. The line that separated his spiritual awareness and the fire was obscured. If before this the two could be considered close to merging, then they had now finally fused completely.

However, despite the constant eruption of power, the soul who was treating him as the center of its universe remained unaffected. It was as if it could never be destroyed, or the Sky Fall flame simply had no effect on its divine soul. Every time the blaze erupted Sylvester felt a profound aura of dignity from the orbiting infant soul. In fact, the more the sky fall flame erupted, the more this parasitic infant soul begin to glow in golden soul light.

"Is this the so-called disaster that attracts a miracle? What's the deal with this guy? My Sky Fall Flame basically can't even sense him, it's like he doesn't exist. The only other existence this flame does not react too is my mother. Totally weird." Thought the wandering soul of Sylvester.

He had recently spent his days incinerating and devouring other souls, plundering all that remains of them. Many fragmented memories and thoughts were burned away as well as he a.s.similated the purest soul force he had ever known into his own soul.

"Curious, curious…" said Sylvester, "Come on little guy. Is it not a bit rude to just sleep and eat? At least wake up once for this prince, it's so boring here."

It felt like more and more eons had pa.s.sed. As Prince Tricko couldn't always maintain his spiritual awareness, he would frequently have to rest. Doing so allowed his mental energy to recover enough to trigger an eruption of flames. After which, he would have the power to spare. To his delight, he noticed that his soul was growing ever more powerful every time it bottomed out completely. However, whenever he cast his spiritual awareness to open his "eyes," the first thing he would always see is the little pale gold baby directly in front of his face!

What was with this guy?

Lately, instead of orbiting nonstop, this guy would only orbit if Sylvester's spiritual force was active. The moment it was withdrawn, the infant soul would stop moving. However, once it was active again, the d.a.m.ned thing would be right in his face!

After the tenth time it happened, Prince Tricko urged the Nirvana flame to attack to no avail. The prince was, nonetheless, excited that he was now able to move the fire with his will alone. He could even command it easily! Such prowess was a significant improvement. Due to this, he eventually calmed back down. Prince Tricko saw nothing but random souls all flowing forward into the darkness. Now and then a white light would flash as another new soul appeared.

'Where do they go? From where did they come? Why do they float so much faster than me? Why won't this one p.i.s.s off!' Prince Tricko had no clue how to define his current circ.u.mstances. He never saw any new souls appearing, yet even when his nirvana flame eradicated the souls in the surrounding, then a few breathes would pa.s.s and Sylvester would eventually find himself wholly surrounded as if he had never done anything.

He felt significant resistance whenever he attempted to move. This feeling was like being held firmly in someone's hand. The most he could do was sit up with difficulty. Of course, his little buddy in orbit seemed oblivious and impervious to this rule. The prince had grown attached to this infuriating little guy. He was a real anomaly, just as the prince himself was here. It was his one an only companion in this timeless abyss.

However, after devouring countless souls and converting them instantly into pure soul power, prince Tricko could feel some pressure weighing on him. This feeling was like the room getting smaller, and the hand holding him previously begin tightening its grip. His soul light had now changed to pale blue, and he looked like an eight-year-old. Though the prince didn't know much about the workings of the soul, due to the circ.u.mstances he was able to infer that this was a good thing.

As if the soul in orbit around him was benefiting from his effort, it's golden glow was becoming ever brighter. The prince found this to be very intriguing, though he was mildly annoyed. What made this little fellow so different? This soul was beginning to give him an old and ancient feeling. It was also a bit familiar. This soul seemed unaffected by the pressure.

'Could it be that I've become too powerful for the laws of this plane to govern properly? What happens if I continue to disturb the natural order? Will I become golden as well?'

"Well whatever, I'm was willing to try anything even if it means eternal d.a.m.nation or even the destruction of the realm itself! What could be worse than being one of those lifeless grey ghost babies again? Oh wait, I know! I was drifting endlessly in this river of eternal boredom!" Thinking like this, the prince didn't hesitate to make the Sky Fall Flame erupt into a ma.s.sive explosion of green and black gaseous flames dancing intertwined. This time he destroyed millions upon millions of souls, as he pushed the enormous sea of fire to and fro.

Prince Tricko was not sure how this would affect the karmic wheel of his fate, but can anything be worse than having your own and possibly even your baby brother's soul banished? At any rate, these were all souls of victims destroyed by the hands of fate! His fate stolen from him! However, how could he go down without a fight now that he had another chance?

He would absorb their hope, their dreams, their essence, and he would use it to fight for survival! The only risk was reckless burning his own brother's soul to nothingness.

Such a thing was, of course, impossible. The prince wasn't worried about destroying his Xavier's soul for he believed the kid to be the embodiment of luck. There was no way he would be like the rest of these ghost babies, as he was likely the reason they had survived in some way. The prince was even less worried about his indestructible little buddy in orbit. It was as if his flame couldn't directly affect this guy at all. Less than that, it even seemed to be benefitting him!

"f.u.c.k it. I'll burn this whole world down if I have too!" Sylvester Tricko's eyes briefly flashed with madness. He chose to risk it all! With a thought, the flames raged endlessly in all directions. The realm began to tremble slightly as a wild devouring force begin reckless ravaging this realm. The prince's soul slowly changed from a pale blue to royal blue.

After a few breaths, he was pale gold.

After an hour his soul glow began transforming into a deep golden color.

As the sky fall flames begin to recede to the wayward soul, his soul form flickered before finally resting on a s.h.i.+ning platinum colored light.

The previously gold orbiter was now emitting a dense dark exotic glow, as a gust of ancient aura rushed out from the infant soul as his spirit form developed legs. He had evolved from ghost baby to ghost toddler but remained otherwise unchanged, and the aura then vanished as quick as it came. He soul glow returned to golden. Prince Tricko was in shock. What in the world just happened? Such powerful aura…and then nothing?

How anti-climatic was this?

"You're a dramatic one," Sylvester watched the toddler suspiciously as he orbited endlessly.

Suddenly the entire s.p.a.ce began to shake. A world-shattering might was radiating from every corner of the realm. Sylvester Tricko reeled his shock as he summoned the sky fall flames around him to manifest into the form of a 12-meter tall fire wolf.

The realm continued to make a terrifying commotion before a giant hand tore open the void and pulled it back until it was like an enormous eye slit. A huge dark gold colored face peered through the crack in the plane. To be more specific only the left eye was visible. That huge eyeball alone was more than 20 meters tall. It was multi-colored and fragmented as if it was a priceless and exotic diamond or crystal, rather then a pupil.

"Ancient t.i.tan?" the prince pondered. "What the f.u.c.k is going on now? What could this mean? Weren't Ancient t.i.tans known to be banished from the universe by the supreme Sky Nova of the 12 Antiquity Races?"

Suddenly there was a booming voice that shook the entire void with each word.

"BANISHED ONE! STATE YOUR NAME." the voice thundered word by word.

BOOM~

Prince Tricko urged the Sky Fall Flame to combust in brilliance with all his might and concentration, as he continued devouring the essence of the unfortunate souls that drifted ever forward. His spirit form suddenly shook, then begin to wriggle as it took on the form of an 11-year-old boy with long straight jet black hair down past his shoulders and a third of his back, which begin fluttering in the void. He looked dignified and imposing. Other than the platinum s.h.i.+ning ghost baby circling him in orbit.

Surrounded by the Sky Fall flame in the form of a giant wolf, the prince stood straight as a sword, with an incomparably calm and dominant face as he announced proudly,

"I am Prince Sylvester Slyknarius Tricko, heir apparent to supreme Sephiroth of the Anubis Great World."

Silence.

More silence.

For the second time in his continued existence, the prince felt a bit anxious. Just then, the world began to shake with volume again, "YOU ARE OF POWERFUL BIRTH AND BLOODLINE, BUT YOUR BLOODLINE DOES NOT EXIST HERE. YOU HAVE ENTERED THE RIVER OF TIME, AND YOUR SOUL HAS BEEN SEALED HERE FOR WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN MILLENNIA ON TOP OF EONS. IN THIS SEAT'S OPINION, ONLY SOMEONE POWERFUL FROM YOUR TIME COULD DO THIS. IT IS THE SAME FOR YOUR SOULMATE. YOUR SEALS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME."

Each booming syllable was like a stab in his heart. 'River of time? I was aware of that. The river of time is terrifying, but I am aware none the less. Sealed? Soulmate? Same seals? He should be referring to my little brother, Xavier Grindarios Tricko. Or is it…?'

"I AM T'ZHANE. I HAVE EYES THAT CAN SEE THROUGH DESTINY, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT. THE DESTINY ON THE TWO OF YOU IS THE BIGGEST I HAVE EVER SEEN. I AM ALSO AWARE THAT YOU BOTH EXISTED IN AN ERA THAT HAS YET TO COME. HOWEVER, YOURS IS EVEN LATER THEN HIS."

The prince was shocked. 'The two of you? His? Who..', He then glanced at his little buddy in orbit. A vague memory flickered through the prince's mind and things suddenly made more sense.

"THERE IS SOMETHING THAT I NEED TO KNOW. IF YOU CAN ANSWER MY ONE QUESTIONS, PERHAPS I CAN HELP YOU."

'Help?' Thought the prince, 'So then there was a solution?

"DO NOT BE SHOCKED BY THIS," boomed T'Zhane.

The prince was shocked! 'Could he be reading me…"

"BY THE WAY, I CAN INDEED SEE THROUGH YOUR THOUGHTS. THIS IS VERY EASY GIVEN YOUR CURRENT FORM. I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW WHAT I AM AND THAT IT MAKES THAT DANGEROUS THING WITHIN YOU ACT APPREHENSIVE. I WILL EASE YOUR WORRIES SO THAT YOU WILL DROP YOUR GUARD. "

There then was a loud and mystical sound accompanied by a divine blinding light. After the light faded, in front of Prince Tricko appeared a 30-foot tall giant. His chest was bare, with rippling muscles that seemed to contain explosive strength, it was genuinely manly and impressive. His skin was dark bronze, but covered in golden rune lines that resembled a series of intricate tattoos.

Merely, they seemed to be natural, as if they had always existed. The t.i.tan's pants were white combat trousers with a strange language running vertically up the left leg, and his feet were exposed. He stood in the center of the s.p.a.ce crack, and behind him, there were streams of rainbow-colored chaotic spatial energy dancing about strangely. How strong must one be to stand within that? Mighty as he once was, the prince had no notion of such prowess. Perhaps, only his grandfather would know.

"This is the smallest form I can a.s.sume," announced T'Zhane rather rudely, damaging Sylvester's confidence. He now spoke in a less world quaking, but the still thunderous voice.

"There is no way for a hollow soul to travel forward once banished in this river of time. Though you have used your divine powers to devour the power of those souls around you like a free buffet, it will never be enough power for you the destroy the banish seal on your soul flame, and that makes you a hollow soul. Escaping with your strength alone is impossible.

"Even though your soul flame is rather…special. There is only one method left available to you. This path, however, is one full of peril and slaughter. It is risky, and the odds are totally against you. It will not be easy, but you play the key role. Knowledge of this path will be the remuneration for your cooperation."

The prince was quietly listening while displaying absolute indifference. It was as if this was utterly unrelated to himself. The truth was different, for inside his mind he was depressed. A mere hollow soul! His soul flame, which represented the majority of his being, was sealed away?

Any pract.i.tioner worth a d.a.m.n would be aware that the hero race was unique in that their souls and blood could somehow fuse with the soul's creatures of a different origin, granting them special abilities.

Was this to be his fate? Was that the purpose of this endless river of souls? The reason they were in the form of infant humans? Was this the reason that his soul form's likeness was currently that of his human form? Sylvester didn't quite understand.

During incarnation, your host soul must fuse with hollow souls for that person to have any hope of absorbing the energies of heaven and earth, or the heavenly forces. Hollow souls were incomplete beings who would never be whole on their own due to their soul flame's being sealed; thus this was a scenario that helped both parties. The hollow soul's form, once awakened, was dependent on the laws last imprinted in the soul flame. Therefore, they have a chance to grow and develop further, instead of being doomed into nothingness.