Boss’s Old Earth - Present day.

 

D-Day, 6 AM.

 

Mnemon couldn't help but express his annoyance. "I get that you're excited about your date, but seriously, does it have to be crack-of-dawn early, you jerk?" he remarked, clearly irritated.

 

The trio found themselves in Boss's homeland, with Mnemon clearly disgruntled by the early hour, not being a morning person himself.

 

"Ah'ament a mornin' body either, bit if we handle this quickly, we'll hae mair time afterward," Noira explained her reason. "Plus, a'm needin' tae confirm a few hings aboot yer freish body, loue."

"And what might those things be?" Boss asked, interested.

"Simple, ah dinnae waant ony unexpected mishaps," Noira insisted. "Now, do me a favor, sit down and lose the shirt."

"Pretty sure this whole process would be simple by just giving me a new body instead?"

"Ye, loue, ur noo th' literal traivelin Elephant's foot. A'm needin' tae ensure yer freish body kin handle th' current ye, at th' gey least," Noira explained.

 

Understanding the logic, Boss promptly took a seat and removed his shirt. Noira joined him as she prepared for whatever was to come.

 

"This micht sting a bawherr. Or tickle-ish... Ah'ament entirely sure," warned the female.

"What do you mean you're not sure? What is this, American healthcare?" Mnemon protested.

" Keek," she said, glancing at the bird perched on Boss's head. " Despite mah powers, this jimmy is noo ████—"

 

Boss quickly turned around, covering Noira's mouth.

 

"What are you doing, du verrückte Frau?!?" Boss emphasized each word.

 

Noira removed his hands, responding with a pout at his reaction.

 

"C'moan, ye worrywart. Cannae ye see th' censorship ah added up thare? " She pointed at the edited portion of the paragraph. " Ainlie ye 'n' ah kin hear 'n' see that word, na yin else. Sae, calm yer tits."

 

Boss looked up at the text, and it was true. Like Noira said, the word had been censored. He breathed a sigh of relief.

 

"Next time, give me a heads up, please." As if he could age, that stunt Noira just pulled could put him in a nursing home.

"N' lassy yer reaction? nah." She giggled. "Ye ready?"

"Yeah," he took a deep breath, "Ready."

 

Noira immediately poked him with her arms. Boss scowled; it felt like she took his internal organs, crushed them, and molded them back like toy clay.

 

"Geez, this trial is heavier than ah thought. Ah mist an' a' praise ye fur regulating yer braun tae control this movin` corpse."

"It's not that bad..." Boss tried to justify.

"Oh, really?" Noira asked mockingly. "Oan yer left."

 

Boss leaned over to look to his left. And boy, oh boy... Half of Noira's arm had disappeared entirely.

 

"FYI, A'm noo wey stronger than afore," her arm regenerated in the blink of an eye. "Kinda funny 'n' ironic, honestly," Noira exclaimed as she put her arm back inside his body and continued her work.

"How's so?"

"Keek at us noo; oor roles ur technically reversed."

"I don't think so," Boss shook his head. "You could still kick me back to the Outer Wall if you wanted."

"N' ye kin aye break in if yi'll waant tae. Tae add up, yer noo th' ainlie yin that kin damage 'n' potentially murdurr me. " Noira remarked back. "Sae aye, ye hae th' upper haun noo. Dinnae sell yersel' short, loue."

"Noira."

"Aye?"

"Do you know what would happen to me? What would I become?"

 

Noira remains silent and continues with her current work. After a while, she withdrew her hand from Boss and sat before him.

 

"Honestly, I don't know." Her tone changed. She looked straight into Boss. "You're supposed to die for good because of Over Heaven Overdrive. The moment I dealt the final blow to you, for some reason, I felt...a hole inside me."

"Back then, I couldn't fathom what that feeling was, though the sight of you finally achieving your wishful death... didn't sit well with me. So, before you were gone completely, I did secure a part of your soul, mostly your memory."

"Our fight, or more correctly, the fact that you activated the Archotech Aether Engine and reset the whole Dark Multiverse, had attracted my sister's attention."

Boss nodded at her words. After all, the chaos he caused back then was equivalent to detonating a thermal nuclear bomb in your neighborhood.

"If I return your soul, whether Norm or Dark Multiverses, my sister will use you against me," her voice laced with anger and hatred.

"If I keep your soul to myself, there wouldn't be any problems afterward."

"Then why did you let him go?" Mnemon asked.

"When I secured the last fragment of your soul, your memory flew into me. Personal ones. That alone was the reason." Noira sobbed as she continued.

"Huh, that's new." Boss tilted his head in surprise, in which Noira raised a brow at his reaction.

"For real, until this day, I thought you knew everything about me. I mean, you and your bullshit omnipotent."

"Well, it's bullshit indeed, but there's a twisted kind of fun in it. Picture this – messing with a petite 5-foot-5 innocent woman just to have her reel off details about you, your family, what they do, and where they live. A full-blown doxxing attack," she chuckled with a wicked grin. "Seeing the shock and horror on their faces – it's like sipping cold water at 3 AM."

 

"But, you know, there are downsides too. Being all-powerful is like knowing the content of every book in the bookstore before you even pick one up. It ruins the surprise most of the time."

"And yes," she continued, "I know your memories, but I try to keep my distance from the personal stuff. Broke that rule only after you 'died' once."

"Respectful move," Boss remarked.

"Oh, come on," she scoffed. "You never pried into my past; instead, you faced me straight on. You respect me for who I am. So, why wouldn't I do the same for you?"

"Anyway," Noira returned to the matter, "Got good and bad news. Take your poison, love."

"Start with the good news, please."

 

Noira snapped her fingers, and suddenly, Boss found himself seated at a small school desk adorned with a graduation hat. The crow perched on a chair beside him, without the hat this time. Noira, on the other hand, wielded a pointer stick with a blackboard behind her.

 

"Your old or new body is compatible!" Announced as she pointed out at the board.

"Oh, cool!" Mnemon deadpanned, which both of them knew. Boss just clapped his hand along with Noira's shenanigans.

"Ah... still need a little touch and go, but it worked out."

"So, bad news?" Boss inquired.

"Your new body is still deteriorating, but it is manageable if you keep regulating like before. Although, the side effect, the migraine, yeah, you still stuck with that, maybe worse, I think." Noira shrugged

"That's expected. Still way better than I expected." Boss commented.

"I will find a way to deal with the deteriorated thing." Noira thought attentively.

"Wait, I thought you were omnipotent and shit. Can you just fix this with a snap?" Mnemon turned to Noira.

"Look, true to what you say, but you two are out of my territory. If I knew the solution to our big guy's predicament, I would have already done so," she retorted.

"Here's the new body," Noira held out a ball of light, which made Boss raise a brow at her.

"That's it?" Mnemon was supprised.

"What? Or do you want me to perform a cult-like ritual for your amusement?"

"Please, don't," Boss quickly refused, knowing she would do that just to piss on him. He then took the ball of light from Noira's hand. "So...how do I do this?"

"Just press into your heart and prepare for the pain train, love," Noira nonchalantly said with a bright smile.

"I don't like that smile of you," Boss pointed at her.

"Aaaaw, our dear former CEO, now Chief Enforcer, can't take a little pain?" She elbow-nudged him.

 

Boss hesitated momentarily, eyeing the ball of light in his hand with doubtfulness. Noira's nonchalant demeanor did little to ease the building tension. As he pressed the radiant sphere against his chest, an agonizing surge of pain erupted throughout his body. It felt as if a thousand searing needles were piercing every inch of his being simultaneously.

The pain was not a mere sensation; it manifested as a relentless onslaught, an orchestra of torment playing in the depths of his consciousness. His vision blurred as waves of excruciating pain spread from the epicenter of his chest, spreading like wildfire through his body. It was the same as what Noira had done beforehand, but now it was down to every cell in his body and dialed right to one hundred.

 

Noira, seemingly unperturbed, leaned in, whispering, "Welcome aboard, love. It's a one-way trip, but I promise it's worth the destination."

 

His vision blurred, and his world distorted into a nightmarish kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. His hands clenched involuntarily, gripping the sides of the desk with desperate strength. Suddenly, elongated and distorted shadows sprouted out of his back as he transformed into his nightmare form; each was spawned with numerous eyes and mouths. They writhed and twisted in grotesque forms like serpents, casting long shadows that danced menacingly across the colorless ground. The air then crackled violently under Boss's torment.

Noira's smile widened, and her eyes glowed with an eerie satisfaction as she watched the spectacle unfold. Mnemon, unable to maintain his usual stoicism, took a step back.

Once adorned with the soothing hues of blues and whites, the heavens above now bled into a surreal, two-toned nightmare. An ominous fusion of obsidian and pallid white consumed the celestial expanse, creating an otherworldly chiaroscuro that defied the essence of natural order.

The surroundings were also the victim of this sickly interplay of black and white. Trees, stripped of their vibrant greens, stood as skeletal sentinels, their twisted branches reaching for a sun that seemed forever beyond their grasp. The ground, once teeming with life, now lay barren and desecrated, its once-lush tapestry reduced to a grayscale wasteland. Sensing the unholy shift, animals ceased their daily activities and vanished into shadowy depths. The foliage trembled, and the cave quivered.

A guttural scream escaped Boss's lips, reverberating in the altered atmosphere. As his cry filled the air, the anomalies reshaping the surroundings suddenly stopped, freezing time itself. In an instant, all the anomalies shattered like glass, falling and dissipating into nothingness as everything reverted to its original state. As the last remnants of the anomalies were finally gone, Boss's scream subsided, replaced by a usual sound of nature. He slumped back in the chair, gasping for breath. For some reason, the small desk was miraculously unscathed.

 

"You still hang in there, bud?" Mnemon, perched on Boss's shoulder, sent a concerned look.

 

Boss, still recovering from the harrowing ordeal, managed a grateful but wry smile.

 

"It's... something," he admitted. "Still preferable than a prostate exam," he joked.

"Well, love, how's the new you feeling?" she inquired, a playful glint in her eyes.

"Alive, I suppose. Definitely different, yet strangely familiar," Boss admitted. "Yep, feels almost exactly like before," he confirmed, punctuating his statement by cracking his fingers and neck.

"Any unexpected sensations? Feelings?"

"No, it's way better now," he said, his abominable tentacles deftly juggling a nearby rock. "Except for the migraine, of course."

 

Noira then walked in front of Boss, her movements graceful, and she bowed to him with a flourish.

 

"Welcome back, White Monarch."

"So, what now?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Noira responded. "Usually, going out to eat or somewhere to hang out is best if you go on a date. But then again, we're not the typical couple."

Boss contemplated for a moment before deciding, "Do you mind if we need to visit a place first?"

"Sure, we have all the time in the world now." She snapped.

 

Intrigued, Noira and Mnemon followed him as they headed east of his homeland. They arrived at a desolate cliff overlooking the vast sea. As they approached the edge, there was nothing there.

Nothing special aside from the scenic view.

 

"Mind if I have a moment alone?" Boss asked, his gaze fixed on the horizon.

 

Noira and Mnemon exchanged glances, understanding the gravity of the situation.

 

"Give me a shout if you need anything," Noira said with a gentle understanding.

 

And there he stood, Boss, alone. He walked to a specific spot, settled down, and let the solitude engulf him.

 

"Please, don't be like that," echoed a comforting voice from the past.

 

The master spoke to his apprentice, both figures covered in white hoods, revealing only their mouths.

 

"You're leaving forever, and you expect me to act like it's no big deal?" the apprentice said monotonously, the weight of his words hanging in the air.

The mentor could only sob at the words, putting his arms around his student's neck and pulling him closer.

"Before I go, there are a few things I want to share with you. Some are requests, some are reminders."

The apprentice remained silent.

"You'll probably create a marker or a grave here. It's easy to guess, considering I know you like an open book."

"Don't mourn for me. Don't stand here and weep."

"You'll inherit everything from me – memories, knowledge, and powers. But I'm sure you've got more than me in the latter, and that's come from a Stellarborne."

Then, silence filled the air.

"I'll never truly die, as my memories will always be with you. I'll be there with you every step of the way."

"I am the memories that gently linger. A constant presence, a loving finger. Don't stand at my grave and sigh. For I am with you, soaring high."

"Since when did you become a poet?" the apprentice jokingly scoffed at his master's words.

"I was bored," the master laughed in response.

 

Another silence.

 

"Take care of yourself, and don't do anything foolish you'll regret one day. Alright, kiddo?"

"I'm not a kid," the apprentice retorted.

"To me, you always will be," the master said, patting his student's head. "Have fun, kiddo. May this cursed bloodline of mine serve you well."

 

Boss shook his head as nostalgia hit him like a truck. Looking up at the sky, he chuckled to himself.

 

"I'm home, Master."