Chapter LIX: A New Odyssey's Beginning -Lich

Lich lay on the bed in the Nexus building. However, it was not a bed with sheets and a mattress, it was more an anti-gravity field. Although he had gone to bed some time before, he was too busily engaged in thought to sleep. His eyes stared up at the ceiling, its Protoss design evident. Although Lich was a regular visitor to Markior's Lair on Yamauchi, which had Protoss architecture, he had never been in a proper Protoss building. Perhaps the architecture of this powerful psychic race promoted thought and mediation, for that is what he was doing.

A lot had happened between now and when he had last slept. He had saved Markior from that cinema of gore, and watched him disappear as Ulrezaj killed him, but knew he returned sometime later.
His thoughts shifted to Markior as he saw him later on: He noted that Markior's actions lost the arrogant edge which they usually contained. Perhaps he was re-educated in that time while he was dead.
Lich had later met that woman, Artemis, and then his namesake, The Dark Lich. Lich shuddered as he remembered his experience as a statue.
Lich realised that he had lost all track of time. It could be hours after he was petrified; it could be days; it could be years. He hoped for the first of them, otherwise his three month limit was approaching sooner than expected, if not gone. And if it had gone, he was to be presumed dead.
After he had returned from petrification, he met Multex and his friend, Nehn Ehm. He decided that he would look for the Parallel Earthling in the morning.

Then it had started to go strange...
Kyle had stumbled out of the bushes behind them, and in a reflex action, Lich had stunned him and made him pass out with the Boomerang. Of course that would be expected in a strange and disquieting world as this, but what was stranger was that it was his idea to burn him at the stake, against a tree, and he had lit the torch...
Then, when Kyle fought back, he had suspended him mid-attack, mid air...
Then, when Markior arrived with an obedient Zergling, which was strange in itself, and the Ultralisks attacked, Lich had put up that barrier of earth...
Then, between Ulrezaj's and Ratch's confrontation and the one with Gigyas, he had used ignited a flame yet again.
It didn't quite add up. The world was uncomforting, and things out of the ordinary were likely to happen. But this was too far out of the ordinary. Lich decided he needed time, alone, to think.

He tried to get up, but flailed around hopelessly on the anti-gravity bed, the field keeping him suspended in mid-air. He found a button nearby, and he floated gently back down to the floor.
He decided to not take any chances in disturbing Markior: he wanted to leave unnoticed. Before he opened the door back out into the main chamber, Lich felt for Markior's presence on the Mana Field. He found it easily, a large clump, distinguishable, after some time of practice, among the many others in the main chamber of the Nexus. He knew that getting past Markior would be a near impossible task, unless Markior was severely distracted or had his thoughts interrupted. He decided for interruption.
He concentrated for a moment, and made a small swaying motion with his middle finger. In the main chamber, pink petals suddenly appeared around Markior, and their relaxing and pleasing scent sent him straight to sleep. Lich decided to make the spell weak for the sake of his other friends, so Markior would be awake in a minute, yet giving him enough time to make his escape.
He opened the sliding door and ran across the chamber, past the slumbering spirit and quickly dodging the table as he was nearly about to run into it. He then did a small jump to stop himself as he approached the elevator. He pressed a symbol which resembled a downward pointing arrow after a quick calculated guess - he could not read Protoss - and was soon going down. He gathered he had forty seconds left before the spell ran out, and at twenty, he arrived at the bottom. Lich pressed what appeared to be the up button, and soon enough the elevator started to climb skywards. Lich quickly, but quietly, stole out of the building. The elevator arrived at the top just as Markior snorted himself awake and said, "What am I doing, dozing off like this…" and spotted the pink petals around him. He picked one up and scrutinized it, then gazed narrow-eyed towards where he thought Lich would be sleeping.

Lich found a spot slightly upstream from where the brook entered the lake. The light from the mock world's single moon skipped off the stream where it fell over some small rocks. In the middle of the stream was an island with a tree, small due to the lack of soil on the island, but large enough to comfortably sit in its fork where two gnarled boughs twisted their way upwards. He spotted it, then decided that total loneliness would possibly be of a benefit.
Lich opened all his Pokéballs, and instructed his Pokémon to go back to the Nexus, but stay in the entrance. Nessie led the other five of his party back towards the building, after Lich had pointed it out to him. Lich then waded across the waist-deep water, climbed the small trunk and took position in its fork. He shut his eyes, and concentrated.
The world faded away, and soon Lich was left with nothing but him and a vast, clear to grey field of virtual nothingness. But the field was not nothingness, it was like gel that could be moulded: the Mana field. The field was virtually flat, however, downstream, Lich felt the colony's large presence, a mountain on the plain, and in it were the Probes and the Khaydarin Crystals, and Markior's rise on top of it. What he was looking for was not there, but what exactly was he looking for?
Lich recalled the events that had happened since Kyle's arrival. He replayed in his mind's eye what had happened, his anxiety and anger from battle dominating them. Lich knew his answer lay in those events.
He then concentrated some more, and detached himself from himself; he was now an independant force, and his emotions would play no affect on him. It was a struggle as his mind screamed to re-unite itself with its memories. The link between them was just like an elastic band: always wanting to contract, and would snap when stretched too far. Lich held on as he replayed through his memories, and suddenly, near snapping point, the answer was before his eyes. He was surprised he had not seen it before, and as he let the band snap back, re-uniting mind with memory, it all became clear.

He had cast spells that he did not know.

Lich knew the ways of Undine, of water; of Lumina, of light; and Dryad, life and Mana itself. When he had lit the torch and the fire, he had used an Ignite spell, a Salamando spell. And when he had suspended Kyle mid-attack, if he had looked at the signature, the Mana field would have created an orb in the air, with a rope tied around Kyle suspending him from it, thus being a Sylphid spell, Balloon. And during the Ultralisk attack he used a Gnome spell, Barrier, a new earth spell since the Resurrection, to create the wall of rock.

Lich then turned his meditation upon himself. He delved to find his Mana Force, and, expecting to see a main rise with three rises and five hollows in it, each rise representing an Elemental's powers and the hollows the lack of one's, he found them all mysteriously filled.
Then, he saw something move, and instantly Lich was returned to the Mana field outside. Like a sunbeam through the clouds, he remembered the words of his teacher: "The forces of Mana are only limited by what the caster chooses to accept."
He repeated the words over and over, then it dawned upon him. Something had broken down his refusal of the other elements. Something had granted him spells of Gnome, Sylphid, Salamando, Shade and Luna, without his knowledge.

Something was using him.

That something he saw moving in his Mana Force was probably the entity which was appropriating him for its will. Lich drew up strength around him, and delved into his Mana Force again. He saw the thing again, for that is what it could only be described as: a thing. Lich felt it try to reject him from viewing it, but Lich prevailed, and then asked the thing in Rhenzin, the language of Mana, "Who are you?"
It then answered in Rhenzin: "Mana itself."

Lich suddenly snapped out of his meditation, and was blinded by the sun rising over the lake, in plain sight downstream. He realised he was two beings: Dyluck Thanatos Yoshi von Kippo, and inside him, the spirit of Mana. He jumped down from the tree, and was greeted by a startling, "Morning, Lich!" from NM on the other side of the stream.
"Morning!" Lich called, shouting his reply.
"Lich, I don't think Markior's pleased this morning, he says he found pink petals around him last night. Your doing?"
Lich smiled and shook his head, and was soon standing beside him, dripping with water from the waist down.
"Not mine, NM, but Mana's."
Lich passed him, still smiling as he walked towards camp, while NM turned and watched him go, not entirely understanding as to what he had said, before he threw his hands up in the air, snorted, and followed him.

As Lich arrived back at the colony, his mouth gaped at the startling sight. The colony had expanded to now include a Gateway and an Assimilator. Pylons of Khaydarin Crystal suspended in a ring of gold dotted the area. He quickly jumped out of the way as a Probe zipped towards the Nexus carrying a container of Vespene gas from the Assimilator. Already outside the Gateway were a few Zealots, the foot-soldiers of the Protoss, and two Dragoons: four legged, crab-like robots which fire plasma shots and controlled by one of their fallen brethren, sustained in a liquid.
Suddenly, a Probe stopped warping in a building in front of him, and a Forge materialised before his eyes. He was speechless by the beauty of it all.
Markior then teleported in front of him, holding a lone pink petal in his hand.
"Lich, do you know what could have happened while…" he started.
"Yes. I could have slipped out of the building unnoticed, which is what I wanted to do. I just needed time to myself."
"It's too dangerous, Lich, especially with many enemies around…" Markior started, yet again to be interrupted by a: "Like…me?"
The voice echoed and re-echoed throughout the area. Lich felt a shiver run down his spine, then up again and back down to his hips, as he turned and saw two bony hands and a horned skull seemingly sitting on the ground. Dark's penetrating red eyes pierced his soul.
Lich's voice stuck in his throat as he saw his namesake. He felt Markior warm up a psionic attack, but was cut short as Dark said, "That will be enough, Protoss," and clenched a fist beside him, spraying a powder which paralysed both Markior and NM and put them both to sleep.
Lich's voice suddenly jumped into his mouth, and his lips, tongue and teeth were forming Pandoran syllables; though weak, they were audible, and they said: "Be gone, foul demon…"
"Thank you for the compliment, blasphemous one," Dark said, his eyes hinting of a nonchalant smile.
"The power of Mana dwells inside me," Lich said, his mouth only managing to make it just recognisable.
"I sense your fear. I love fear, and I feed on it. But I'm not here to chat idly. Be gone, foul lizard."
Dark then stared at Lich, who was lifted into the air by grey balls circling him in a hoop. A moment later, Lich disappeared into thin air. After Dark had bellowed a laugh, he pointed at a nearby zealot who had noticed him, and turned it into ice, before the undead wizard faded away and vanished.

Lich landed on his knees in a patch of sand, his head spinning madly. The scenery before him spun as if he was on a ride in a fairground, and soon he vomited. Heratu's Syndrome had taken its toll this time around. He then lifted his head groggily, fell on his left side and passed out.
When he came to, the sun was in his eyes, in a point halfway down the sky. Or was it halfway up the sky?
His arrival in an unfamiliar place always threw out Lich's finely tuned sense of direction, especially through teleportation. He then gazed around him and saw that in one direction, sand spread towards the horizon, forming dunes in places. He then looked the other way, and rocks stretched out as far as the eye could see. Lich then groaned as he realised his location: the joining point of two deserts.
He had been in a desert before while he went after the Boomerang of Light. This time, however, he had added advantages.
Lich stood up and pressed the button on his orange Pokéball, and was greeted by a sound which could only be recognised as a noise of failure. He then remembered - and as he did he screamed a curse in Pandoran - that his Pokémon were still waiting for him to return at the door of the Nexus at the colony.
With no Pokémon, and no sense of direction, Lich pointed his finger in a random bearing, which ended up being some dunes in the far distance. He then grumbled at his stupidity as he walked off towards them.

Lich had found a set of footprints, and decided to follow them for some time. When he found two tracks with exactly the same foot size, he sat down and cursed again in Pandoran for going around in a circle twice. He once again concentrated and threw one hand up into the air, as water materialised, left his hand, and arced into his mouth, growing reasonably hotter as it traveled. The water tasted foul due to its temperature, but it was water, and water he needed as he walked. He noticed that the shadows had grown longer in that area since he was last in that location, and decided that behind him was west, and he was facing east. However, the exact location of west was unknown, as the sun could set anywhere in that part of the sky, depending on the season and the hemisphere, both of which he did not know. Lich then decided to wait until sunset, and navigate by the stars.
He then remembered the night sky as he saw it when he woke up just after he arrived on Zolott, then waited until the stars appeared, one by one like fireflies in a cave. The sky was completely different, so he reasoned that he had crossed the planet's equator. The harshness of the attack of Heratu's also supported that hypothesis: The further he travelled, the worse the symptoms. He then recognised a constellation that he knew among the conglomerate of them: Talago, the fox. He knew that if he drew a line down its curled-back tail, and another down the front leg, where they crossed would be the southern apex of the heavens, and below that on the horizon, true south. He hoped and trusted that it would be the same upon Zolott as it was upon Fa'Diel. He then set off across the now cold sand, constantly gazing at Talago.

Dawn arrived, and Lich found no possible shelter whatsoever. He decided to keep walking, giving himself water through his arcane powers, and then re-orient himself at night again, hoping he didn't suddenly turn back to the north. It was now fatigue that was his main enemy. But there was another brewing to what he thought was the west, and it approached with both velocity and ferocity. A sandstorm had sprung up, and was fast approaching him. Lich stared at it as it approached, and remembered that he could vanquish it with any of Mana's powers, through its now residual place inside him.
"What do you wish to do?" Mana's voice penetrated his mind.
"Vanquish the sandstorm," Lich replied.
"A sandstorm is the combination of the powers of Gnome and Sylphid, two opposites. Defeat one, and there is still the other. Fire is useless, as sand cannot burn. Shade may be of some benefit, but it will not defeat it. Nothing can defeat it except a change of the wind."
Lich then concentrated as Mana taught him how to cast the spell. He knew that he could now cast the spells of Sylphid, Elemental of Air, so he brought his arms forward, and a momentary yellow light appeared before his feet. He then brought his arms in a sweeping motion towards the sandstorm. As he was unpracticed in the Wind Elemental's spells, all he could do was create a small breeze. He then tried harder, and soon a wind was blowing towards the sandstorm. But where the two winds met, they curled around each other creating an upwards vortex, and soon they all gathered into a tornado of sand.
The tornado twisted its way towards him, throwing off sand like a sprinkler discharges water, and soon Lich was walking through a torrential rain of sand, his eyes shut and his footsteps gradually getting deeper and deeper as he walked. Soon, the sand was up to his knees, and he could move his legs no more. He then looked up towards the heavens as he felt his tail first rest on the sand, then be covered by it. Then, his waist was submerged, and soon his chest. He knew that if he or someone got himself out, he would slip out of thongs, belt with the Boomerang, and possibly even the PLT, which became clogged as the sand swirled around his neck. Soon, all that remained of Dyluck Thanatos Yoshi von Kippo and his grim prospect above the new sand dune was the top of a snout, with a smear of pink zinc cream and two nostrils as the tornado dissipated.