Awakening: Prodigy

02: The Crown Jewel of Clearwater

POV Omega

Omega pointed out her missing shoe, but the child held her breath and vanished from sight. If Omega was more than an ephemeral void in a vague memory of a human shape, she would have frowned.

This was, without a doubt, the once infamous Astral Daamon. Or will be... It was hard to keep track when the past, present, and future were all the same. Omega knew this much, Astral was an Ancient Hunter who served under the Dark Emperor until he saw fit to seal her in a place between realms, accessible only to members who walked through the valley of the shadow of death. The Emperor delighted in his little jokes; the journey was a one-way trip.

When the Ancient Hunter returned to the world of men, she returned as a child. This child, who held her breath to control her Hunter's Pulse in order to dim her soul, hiding her presence from Omega. The tactic was either insane or ingenious.

Omega was irritated. She was losing too many of her memories to waste time with these childish antics.

Yet...

Astral should not be here. As ideal a candidate as the girl was and worth the sacrifice of time, no one survives Clearwater. Ever.

Omega's message was intended for Astral in one form or another. It was through Astral's efforts that Omega would gain the resources needed to prolong Earth's continued existence. But this time...

Omega gazed across time and space.

Shades of potential pasts filled the shelter with the faded whispers of overlapping moments. In the hours of frightened captivity, hundreds of scenarios played through Omega's memories simultaneously. In the chaos of rescue, the child Astral was spirited away. Attempts at rescuing the others were made, but never successful.

Omega followed the collection of moments, peering into Astral's potential life as it played out around her in rapid succession. Every rescuer introduced Astral to a new life trajectory, new skills, new knowledge, showing her missing pieces to a complex puzzle. This time, no one was coming. No one could come to her rescue. She was going to die here with the rest of the lambs.

Why was Astral here? Why had no one come? What had changed? Who was messing with her plan?

No, never mind that. She didn't have the time to sort out that problem.

The tiny souls of the dead children drifted with careless ease toward Astral, answering the ancient call as small specks of spectral light. Confusion would set in soon enough, followed by a slew of other emotions. Muted shuttering sobs broke the quiet, followed by hissed calls for pure silence. The fear was palatable. The fiend that would call Clearwater its birthplace was going to be one hell of a terror.

Demons may be an active threat against humanity, but there were layers of beasts who fed on the excrement of man with just as much savage veracity as any demon. Not Omega's concern.

'You can't hold your breath forever.' Communication with a Vessel was risky under the best of circumstances. But she wasn't speaking with just any Vessel, she was speaking with the Vessel that was specifically crafted to receive Omega. A fact that Astral was acutely aware of, having been reminded of her ultimate destiny, time and time again, as a means of control and justified fear.

As far as Astral knew, Vessels suffered from one of two fates: madness by virtue of trying to absorb a wealth of knowledge far beyond Human comprehension, or possession, which lead to a drastically reduced lifespan as their Human body wore against the raw power of the entity usurping their control. A battle of wills never ended well.

Possession was Omega's intention when she had accepted a Vessel within this event. Through possession, she could push the host's body beyond its limits, ensuring its survival throughout this disastrous event. The Vessel's life didn't matter, it was already forfeit. It wasn't like Omega was robbing a person of their potential or their life. She was extending their pitiful existences and granting them a purpose above what they could have ever achieved alone. The message is all that mattered.