Chapter 139 The Five

"What step?" I asked, not really sure what that was. I felt like I should know if I knew this person.

"Don't bother trying to look for information about this place or my abilities. They are all linked to personal memories, but they are also my abilities that you can't use alone. There is always balance, and you are to be that balance. You got three days?" Leo asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I stumbled into the summoning circle this morning when I was heading out to help a suspicious situation. Turned out to be the worst possible case, and there was even something there waiting for me," I explained, and Leo waved for me to follow him.

"Nemoria must know that this is your last life. The Queen of Entropy is going to push you to your limits every chance she gets. You are the link, but something has bound her to you. Think of her as your Goddess; the difference was that whoever is linked to fell to the negative. While this will be your final reincarnation in the Mortal realms, Nemoria can still threaten you," Leo said as the dirt landscape started to become lush and green. I could hear a waterfall coming up ahead.

"Why can she threaten me so much now?" I asked. "Considering how many lives I lived, I must have tangled with her often."

"Yes, you have, to my knowledge. Each time you have come here, it is for power to fight her. There is always an event that will set you on your path to coming to see us to request our assistance. Though, for the problem of the first Riftwalker, at least, you sound like you have a good start," Leo said as the sounds of crashing water got louder, and I could feel a slight mist in the air.

The waterfall was over fifty feet tall, but it wasn't very wide. More like a spout, shooting out from the top and pissing down. The area was covered in short oak trees that were spread apart to surround the pool at the bottom of the waterfall.

"If you get wiped from existence, you are gone forever this time. You seem to understand some of your abilities, but you are just scratching the surface. Watching your reaction to me turning to look at you when you twin cast Accelerate was priceless! I decided to let you come in close so you could get a taste of your own medicine!" Leo laughed, and I rolled my eyes as we walked over to the waterfall.

"I feel like I am doing nothing but learning lessons lately. I came out of the gate hot but then started burning. Now I am trying to cool down, but everyone keeps pouring cold water on me," I said, and Leo gestured to the waterfall. "Yes, that is a waterfall. Very nice."

"Shut up, and come sit under it with me!" Leo snapped, and I put up my hands, giving him a startled "calm down, you savage" look.

Leo scowled and then walked under the waterfall and sat down like the gallons of crashing water were a showerhead. I took my shirt and shoes off and walked over to the crashing water.

It didn't look that bad, but when I tried to step into it, I was sucked forward by the tidal force of the rushing water. I hit the water and was pushed down, but I swam back up to the surface, gasping for air.

"Use your damn head for more than just to hit things with. This is a waterfall on an Astral Plane, and I am an Astral God. Get back up here and brace yourself to sit!" Leo snapped.

I wanted to complain that he should have told me that in the first place, but I swam to the edge of the pool instead. I kept on trying to make excuses for my mistakes, but that wasn't what a real man was supposed to do.

We don't apologize; we just do better. No one would care about your mistakes if you could do better and prove that you learned your lesson. Sometimes silence was the loudest statement, and I needed to learn that one a bit better.

I walked back over and got between the wall and the rushing water, lowering myself down slowly. The water hitting my legs felt like it was causing bruises already, but I slowly moved my whole body forward.

"Now, while we are here. I will tell you a story of the Five," Leo said as I gritted my teeth against the water that was literally punching down on my body.

"Who... Are they? ... The Five?! Fuck! Why does the water have to be so heavy?!" I gasped out as the water pummeled me. "That... spout is so damn small!"

"I can make it as intense as I want. This is my world, so I control it," Leo explained, and I looked down to focus on my hands, clutching my knees. "The Five are the first beings of creation. The three Guides are the veritable middlemen in all of this, While Nemoria and Kaedon are on opposite ends."

"Kaedon? I haven't... heard about him yet," I forced out.

"Kaedon is neither man nor woman. There is a chance that they are already in this world if Nemoria is this involved. The Guides will stay in the background, but it looks like they have already been involved if you have contact with Tallia," Leo explained.

"What do you know about Tallia and me?" I asked as the water started to get easier to bear.

"Less than you do. All I know is that she is a recurring theme with you, so I assumed that you two must be connected. To think that you two are finally in the same world together is kind of nice after everything," Leo chuckled, but that made me laugh out loud but with spite.

"Sure, really great. My touch made her pretty much hate me. Tallia was the only one that knew anything about us; now, she has no clue who I am. All I am to her now is some annoying person that is stronger than they are supposed to be," I growled, barely even noticing the water as fire ignited in me. Every time I thought I was past this, it seemed to burrow its way back under my skin.