The Hybrid Mage

Act 1: Ch.29 - Reflection of the Past

I felt myself sinking. Sinking in a vast ocean of darkness, falling deeper and deeper into the depths. I was drowning. But I felt no pain strangely. It was if I was drifting off into a deep sleep. A sense of calm gentle cradled my unsteady heart like a mother holding her newborn child. All sense of fear, anger and pain was washed away as I fell deeper. It was pure bliss and a relief on my soul as well as so unbelievably easy to just... let go. Let myself fall into a calming abyss. And just like that, the darkness swallowed me whole.

My eyes snapped open as I shot up, gasping for air, sucking in the cool breeze into my lungs as I sat there panting like I had awoken from a horrible nightmare. My vision blurred but it gradually came into focus along with my surroundings; a grassy landscape filled with hills and trees, myself seemingly sitting at the edge of a forest while gazing out into a vibrant countryside view. A bright blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds and the shining sun lay above me as the smell of flowers filled my nostrils while the buzz of bees gently floated into my ears. It was a paradise.

"Am I dead?" I wondered, slightly gobsmacked.

"Not quite although you nearly did."

I turned to see a woman sitting on a large rock a little way beside me; wearing a black leather jacket with her green eyes and magenta hair that practically glowed made her instantly recognisable.

"Pandora?" I asked, not quite believing what I saw. Something about her seemed different, unlike the previous times we had met she seemed genuinely real and not like some extremely vivid illusion or dream. The Codex of Chaos looked genuinely tangible.

"We're on some random version of Earth." Pandora continued casually. "This version being relatively untouched by humanity besides a few towns here and the. The total population is only one billion on this Earth, could you believe it? The little bastards that breed like rabbits are not so rabbit like in this universe."

I chuckled as Pandora turned to face me with a warm smile before hopping down from the rock and leaning against its side.

"You feel a little different."

"How come?" She replied, pursing her lips innocently.

"You actually feel like you're here; physically and not like in my mind. Oh, and then there's that." I said whilst pointing out tattoo like marking along her neck. "Plus, you look slightly different."

"Oh right, yeah. This isn't my actual appearance as you've deduced. It's a vessel."

"Vessel."

"Uh huh." She nodded. "The body of a woman who tragically passed a few days ago on this planet. I possessed it and in response it sorta remoulded itself into a near identical version of my appearance. Besides a few things."

She gestured at the tattoo.

"It ain't permanent though so that's a bummer nor do I have really much access to like almost all my strength. I can only do so much with the body of a passed. I'd need a particularly strong vessel to A: Remain permanently and B: have access to my power. So, I don't do this often."

I nodded along, understanding the meaning in her words. I assumed that if she tried to completely possess a body, power, and all, that wasn't strong enough it wouldn't end so well for the original owner of said body.

A peaceful silence made itself known after the last of her words left her lips. The two of us sitting and standing there, gazing out into the view, and basking in the warm rays of the sun. For a few moments all was at peace. Until something started to nibble at my brain, a though like a woodpecker drilling into the bark of a tree.

"Hey... how did I get here?" I asked, the one question nagging my mind.

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"