“ Then if the end is the same I will fight for my life right now. No need to give me an explanation Come lets fight. ” With that I initiated my challenge even though my chances of winning are so low, but what it replied with came as a big surprise.

~ I can not ~ this time it emitted annoyance in huge waves.

ITs answer immediately opened a box full of questions to which I followed immediately with. “ Why? Why can you not just eat me and be done with it? Why? What is stopping you? Will you even tell me that? “.

Unexpectedly an answer did come. ~ This place ~ but with it came a small resignation .

Soon it followed it up with an explanation without me even prompting it.

~ While I reside in this pocket Reality and am its current owner I am not its creator. There are a few restrictions built into this reality that without destroying it they can not be removed. ~

During its explanation I looked around again but all I could see was that THING and myself. Everything else was of color white.

Wait, it said restrictions, as in multiple? “And which are those?”

~ First restriction - during its stay The Continued Existence will not be compromised under any circumstances. ~

~ Second restriction - during its stay The Continued Existence must be knowledgeable for its continued existence to preserve. ~

~ Third restriction - before The Continued Existence is complete the first and second restriction will not be changed under any circumstances. ~

Wow the restrictions are quite peculiar. ” So am I The Continued Existence? ”

~ Yes and No. ~

~ Yes, before I consume you ~

~ No, because once I consume you, I will became the continued existence ~

Considering the narrative it was kind of obvious. “ Well since I am more important than you right now, I want to know how to beat you as I do not want to be consumed. ”

~ Impossible your sole existence is to be consumed by me ~

To be referred to as food straight into my face even without emotion I really did not like it all. There has to be a way out of this situation. “ Fine, refer to me as you like, I want to understand everything about my current circumstances. ”

~ You can ignore it all you like but your end is fixed with no way out. ~

“ Stop speaking of my end. I want to understand the beginning of all this.” With some wording that could be interpreted as anxious I ask for knowledge.

With that, from its exterior in front of me slowly an appendage appeared or better said a slender tentacle. It was very thin and it slowly crawled through space to my forehead but since it was slow I easily dodged it.

` I am not letting that thing touch me. ` I hate tentacles.

Expressing my intentions with words does alleviate my instinctive reaction a bit. “Get that thing away from me. I do not trust you even if what you said about restrictions is true. ”

For a second I thought I won the argument but I think it knew how I would react and IT toyed with me as its tentacle sped up in that moment and reached my forehead so fast I barely saw a flicker of it. Once its appendage was in contact it started transmitting images to me.

At first everything was scrambled, then came clarity and somehow I found myself in a small garden which took a few seconds to recognize, as I have not been to it in a long time.

Probably close to 5 years, maybe more and even then when i last visited it looked different to how i see it now. ` Last I saw it there were no trees as all of them had been cut down as they were dying. `

But the picture in front of me was very different. There were multiple apple trees around. Once I saw them I remembered them well. When I was a kid I used to play on them or near them with my best friend from childhood. Considering the situation these should be my memories. So I asked for confirmation. “ Why are you showing me my memories? I thought you would give me knowledge of my current situation. ”

~ To understand the result one must first look for the cause. Only then will one gain understanding, as for the memories while they may appear as yours in fact they do not. They belong to The Original you or as this place refers to it The Continued Existence. ~

~ Soon you will understand what that means for you. ~

Is he tricking me or do these truly not belong to me? FUCK If so then all my memories could be fake,

“ Fine continue ” With that said the memories started to change around me. The trees started to sway to the wind and I could even hear them, I could even feel the wind on my skin as if I was truly here and not in some strange bubble of reality with my forehead attached to a tentacle.

` Man I hate tentacles. `

The appearance of two little boys brings me back to focus. One of them was familiar to me as I had seen a few pictures of him or better said of me when I was but a boy of 10,11 or was it 12 with black hair and brown eyes.

Can't remember that well as I had very few pictures of myself that age. ` Hmm, if that is me then considering the other boy of similar age and the place it can only be my best friend from childhood. `

Weird how it was hard to identify his face considering i still meet with him although rarely as he was married and i was not. ` Bastard got himself a woman before me, even had a kid with her. `

Done with cursing him for being left behind even if it was my fault, I watched as our younger selves played about. All was well until I saw my younger self climb an apple tree with branches fairly close to the ground. It was at that moment I remembered something and it truly happened before me.

My younger self tried his best to impress his friend by hanging upside down from a branch for a second. It was then that it happened. One leg wasn't properly anchored and he lost balance for a second and instinctively tried to grab the branch with his hands but failed and down he went.

Hitting the ground with his back followed by the back of his head. Luckily the branch wasn't far from the ground so the fall wasn't as bad as it could have been. ` If he had hit the ground straight with the head, probably would have broken the neck too. `

I tried to think of my own memories and while I do remember the fall and I did blackout for a second or two but there was no damage done. ` So why was I shown this? Could it be something else happened to the Original as that THING hinted at. `

Immediately came a replay as if it knew what I thought. ~ Yes it was at this moment that everything started. By all circumstances the boy should have woken a few seconds later but he did not. ~

“ Considering you showing me this you must know what happened? ”. I asked IT while thinking that not long ago the same happened to me. I was hit by the car and the same happened as shown here. ` I should have stood up without a scratch but I did not and I am now here with this THING. `

~ I do not know what happened in those few seconds as that information is one of the few I have no access for, but if one considers what happened after it was not hard to guess. ~

~ The Original died, his Soul left the body to wherever a Soul goes after death. ~ IT stopped for a second to make me realise something. ~ In fact the Soul is not important at all. No, what is important is what it left behind. ~

` What is left behind? ` Considering it for a second, I can only think of one thing. “ Are you talking about the body? ”

~ Yes, the Body is the key to all this. I am sure I do not need to explain to you that a physical body does not die that easily. ~ I nodded my head to that as my body in the physical realm left behind is proof of that.

So IT continued. ~ While the memory is restricted I could infer that in those few seconds of what I call a micro instance of death the Soul lost its anchor and left the body but the body's instinct to live in that instance did something Death defying. I do not even have the knowledge to grasp at it. ~

~ The Original created the place you came from and this place we find ourselves in. ~

~ That is one of the reasons for which I must consume you to learn. To have the power over Creation itself. ~

` Wait, The Original created my Reality and this place? I could understand this place but that one too? ` If so then Death defying it truly was, but I find it hard to believe for something like this could ever happen to me, well if IT speaks the truth The Original ME.

“ So what happened after? Surely if it truly did have the power to make all this just to live it must have succeeded somehow. What happened to it that would result in me appearing at all. “ With those questions the memories blurred and I found myself back in that place where everything was white.

The tentacle was still attached to my forehead. Just as i wanted to say something about it my vision blurred for a bit and crossed over this small reality bubble back into the Void. With my vision being pulled through the Void where Time had no meaning, it soon after reached the destination.

My vision came upon a small speck of light which soon showed me its true face. I finally understood what it meant. It showed me the exact same scene I just saw in the memories all but one difference. This was a still image of my younger ME lying on the ground as if time stood still in that moment forever.

Having had a good look at it my vision was pulled back and soon I found myself back in that little white space.

Considering everything it showed me right now, only one conclusion could be arrived at. ` The process of revival is still going on. ` Thinking about all the implications was quite mind boggling.

` Now I know the why and the purpose. Now I have to know the how? `

I refocused back on that THING in front of me. “ I have learned of the purpose and the why, now I am sure you'll tell me how, will you not? ”As an afterthought I add “ And get this thing off of my head.”

Taking its tentacle back IT answered. ~ Indeed i have no choice but to tell you, but before that you need to know some basic knowledge about the Body and the Soul. First is their interaction with one another, a Soul cannot exist without a Body but a Body can exist without the Soul. ~

~ Following that thought, one will ask if the Body can exist without the Soul then why is it even there? What is its purpose? ~

~ The answer is simple. The Soul was placed there by an outside source for a reason and the reason is storage. ~

Giving me a second to comprehend I asked the obvious question it had led me to. “ And what is it storing? ”

~ Two things. Memories are one reason, but it is the second one that is the actual true reason and that is the storage of Vitality or as I like to call it Essence of Life. ~

Again I take some time from the revelation to contemplate. The memories part isn't a surprise at all, I mean if one thought even a bit about it they would come to that conclusion. There had to be a reason why so many religions agreed on that one thing that somehow when one dies they will go somewhere to be judged and for that to happen memories need to be stored or there was nothing to judge at all.

By that thought they must only store memories as I was 100% sure they could not be accessed without the right access method and I don't even have to think hard to figure out who has those methods. It all comes back to the reason religion is spread and their fucking GODS.

“ Hmph, of course it would come to them. It's always about the Gods isn't it? ” I hate the Gods and their stupid religions even more then tentacles.

~ I would not know as they are unimportant to our current circumstances. ~

I refocus again on the now and ask. “ Tell me about the second thing, the Essence of Life as you call it. ”

~ Essence of Life is the foundation of any biological lifeform that has a consciousness. It does not matter how small or big the lifeform is as long as that lifeform can think even if it's only reacting on an instinctual level like animals or insects, they will generate Life Essence. ~

~ The only difference between them is the amount generated. The more biomass the lifeform has the more is generated and its capacity to store is greater and the greater the thinking capacity the greater is its actualization. ~

` Hmm I can get behind the basic theory but I would need some examples to compare. `

“ Tell me of an example so I can understand the differences involved? ” I asked.

~ A good example would be the long dead dinosaurs. Because of their great size they could generate a huge amount of Life Essence but since their thought processes are quite simple and instinctual and as with that time period it manifested in only one way the bigger you are the better. ~

~ If one took a look at you or better said humanity in general one would notice their generation of Life Essence is significantly lower but due to their thinking capacity being so much greater they can manipulate it consciously and your current form is one example. ~

With that example I could tell it left me alone for a bit to think about it and so I did. After thinking a bit it wasn't hard to get around it I mean the more you have the better but it all comes down on how you used it.

` Me being in my wisp form is indeed a great example if only i wasn't in this situation at all but then again if i wasn't in this situation I probably would never even come across this knowledge. `

` Let's think about it a bit more. ` If my current state is because I had used the Life Essence to create it, then shouldn't have the same happened to the Original, ah wait if the Soul is storing Life Essence and if one does not have access to one's Soul that means they cant use it at all so the Soul is actually inhibiting one's potential.

If I continue that thought since only Divinities have access to souls that means they feed on it to sustain their existence in some way and if that is the case then the bigger their religion the greater the amount of Life Essence they gather from the souls and more life essence equals more power to which equals more influence to get more souls and on and on it goes the cycle.

" Motherfuckers " I knew I always hated Divinities since in every story I ever read they appeared to depend on the faith of their subject to sustain their “ GREAT ” existences. Well if i ever get out of here and gain power now I know who I can direct my hate to, but it turns out that in real life they don't need our faith, just Life Essence. ` Wait, if they only need life essence to sustain themselves then why is there a need to include memories? `

And I just know who will tell me that. “ If the Gods are sustained on life essence then why are memories included ”

~ Memories are tied to emotions and emotions influence Life Essence ~

“ What happens to Life Essence once influenced by emotions? ”

~ Life Essence once seeped with emotions of a certain degree can be sampled along with with power. ~

~ Thus one can come to the conclusion that emotions give a certain Flavor to Life Essence and the Soul was created to store the Flavor along with the nourishment ~

This time the answer come with amusement as if I asked a very stupid and obvious question.

“ Flavor.…… Flavor…. FLAVOR” With that realization something broke in me.