Chapter 256 The First Meeting
I was starting to feel claustrophobic in the golden city. I had now been there for over a year, and I was getting tired of being cooped up all the time. Even with Lilith's help, this place felt like a prison. The only thing that I could do to keep my sanity was to train as hard as possible and try to find ways to make myself stronger.
"What are you doing?" Lilith asked as she watched me from the door of my room. I had been trying to project myself out of my body, but it was proving harder than I thought it would be.
"I am trying to project myself out," I explained as sweat dripped down my forehead from the effort of using so much power while also holding back at the same time. It seemed that projection required a delicate balance between using too much power and not enough power at the same time in order for it to work correctly. noVe-lb)1n
Lilith had started spending more time with me, but today was the first time that I was going to meet the others. I couldn't say that I wasn't nervous. I literally learned nothing about anyone but Lilith, and even after all this time, I still knew she was holding back parts about herself.
"I do not think that is a good idea. Your power is too unstable, and if you were to project yourself incorrectly, then your body would be left unprotected," Lilith said as she floated into the room and placed her hand on my forehead. I could feel my power calming down under her touch, and I sighed in relief.
"Thank you," I said as I leaned against her for support since using so much power was taking its toll on my body. Even with the suit, there was only so much that it could do to help me recover from using vast amounts of energy at once like this.
"It will take time for you to learn how to use your power correctly without hurting yourself in the process."
"I know, but I wanted to be more progressed than this when I finally got to meet everyone," I explained, and Lilith just smiled.
"You will get there in time. Just remember that we are all here to help you, no matter what," Lilith said as she leaned down and kissed me on the forehead before she left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again.
After she left, my thoughts stretched out to the Earth. It had been a year, but not even an hour had passed for them yet, but I was sure they were all worried about what had happened to me. Gaia and Dawn would probably lose connection with me, and the rest of the girls couldn't get a hold of me even if they wanted to; the distance was too far. That was another thing that we would need to work on in the future; FTL messaging, but there was some law-breaking that would have to happen for that to work and could result in ghost messages. I shook my head at that. Earth's problems were going to have to wait; I had enough on my hands just dealing with the eye.
The next day, Lilith came back, and we went to meet everyone. The group was gathered in a room that looked like it was used for meetings based on how it was set up, with a long table in the center and chairs surrounding it.
"Everyone, this is Daniel," Lilith said as she led me into the room where everyone was waiting, and they all turned to look at me.
I saw many different types of creatures there including some that I couldn't even identify. There were creatures made of pure energy, stone beings, plant people, and shapeshifters of all kinds; pretty much every type of creature imaginable was represented in the room before me. They all stared at me with either curiosity or apprehension in their eyes as Lilith led me toward an empty seat near the head of the table where Abraxas sat. Everyone here looked incredibly powerful compared to myself, but each was contained in the same suit that I wore.
"Daniel, these are the other survivors of our race. We have all been stuck here for over ten thousand years, struggling to find a way to escape this place," Abraxas explained as he gestured toward everyone in the room. "We have all been working together to try and find a way out of here, but so far, we have had no luck."
"That is why Daniel is here," Lilith interjected as she rested her hand on my shoulder. "He has the power to destroy the Great Red Eye and allow us to leave this place."
Everyone in the room stared at me with a mix of hope and apprehension in their eyes as they realized what that meant. I was their only hope for escaping this place, but if I failed, then they would be trapped here forever.
I sat down in silence as I tried to process everything that was happening. There was so much pressure on me now that everyone knew what I had to do. The only thing that I could do now was trained harder than ever before and hope that it would be enough when the time came.
"What are your plans after that? Better was to phrase this, what are your plans for us?" A voice spoke up from the other end of the table, and I turned to see who it was.
"I have not thought that far ahead," I admitted as I looked at the speaker. It was a plant person that looked like they were made of vines. They had left for hair, and their skin was green. They stared at me with silver-slitted eyes that reminded me of Lilith's and my own.
"You should start thinking about it now since you are our only hope for escaping this place," The plant person said as they crossed their arms over their chest. "We need to know what you plan on doing with us once we are free."
"I can not make any promises right now, but I will do my best to ensure that everyone is able to live the life they want after we escape this place," I answered truthfully since that was all I could really say right now. I didn't know what the future held, but I would do my best to make sure that everyone was able to live the life they wanted.
"I think that is a fair answer," Abraxas said as he stood up from his seat at the head of the table. "Daniel is still new here, so I think it would be best if we gave him some time to adjust before we start putting too much pressure on him."
Everyone in the room nodded their agreement as they started to get up from their seats and leave the room. Lilith stayed behind me as she rested her hand on my shoulder.
"Do not worry about them; they are just worried about what will happen after we escape this place," Lilith assured me, but I still couldn't help but worry about what everyone was thinking. For the first time meeting the others, it really didn't feel like it went very well.