THE FUTURE!

When John awoke, he had no idea where he was. All around him was darkness. His senses picked up nothing; no sound, no smell, not even the slightest touch of a surface on his entire body... John was simply floating in nothingness until there was something again.

ᛋᛁᛚᛖᚾᚲᛖ

Lights around the stage lit up and John's vision blurred. For a moment he could see his teacher waving happily from the platform and then Mr. Langley's figure was gone. Other things had changed too: a set of plush red curtains were closed across the front of the stage, a pair of curled stone gargoyles were inlaid along the facade above, shadows of people filled the seats, clamoring noiselessly as they waited for a performance...

John rubbed at his eyes and looked back out the window of the sound booth. The audience was gone, but the rest of the theater's changes remained... and a popup clarified why:

Illusion Barrier - Natural Phenomenon
Eden - Carcosa

What the hell is this place? Where am I? Is that a Barrier inside the school theater?

The quiet was broken by a drawn-out creak from his right, where the door to the sound booth slowly opened. He instinctively switched to his armor and felt the weight of the Thorn materialize in his hand, staring at the opening.

What the hell am I wearing? And what kind of weapon is that? Is that a cross? Why the hell am I fighting with a cross?

He waited... and waited... and waited... Each second that passed only tightening the tense coil of suspense that gripped his pounding heart. He swallowed. Alright, fine; if they weren't going to come to him, he'd take the fight to them.

He exited the sound booth, looking around the theater as he did. The entrances and side-doors were all gone, replaced by damp cave walls that rose on every side and wrapped around the ceiling. Lights along the aisles provided a dim illumination, leading towards the darkened stage. He started down the seats and nearly jumped at the loud noise of an overhead spotlight slamming on. It cast a brilliant yellow ring of light onto the red curtain, which fluttered slightly in a non-existent wind. Whoever lurked in the shadows certainly had an appetite for dramatic flair...

What's going on?

But be warned, the things you see are neither set in stone nor are they strictly you.

As soon as the vision appeared, it was gone. What the hell had happened back there? Why did he wear some kind of scale armor and why did he fight with a cross? Was this what Odin meant when he said 'Things are not set in stone'? Things that might be if things went a certain direction? He wasn't sure if that was actually what was going on there...

In a flash, he appeared in another vision...

ᛁᚾᛏᛟ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛗᛟᚢᛏᚺ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚨᚱᚴᛟᛋ

The approach to the mountains was slow and careful, they did not want to raise the alarms. The elves, as primitive as they were, were actually good hunters and seemed delighted to be using their new gear to kill the enemy of their people.

Elves? Holy shit! There are actual elves somewhere out there!

This volcano was active, lava was flowing in small streams from the top of it and disappearing in deep cracks in the ground. The entrance they were approaching was heavily guarded, with 6 guards and 3 hound like scaly creatures. Getting in while stopping one of them from running inside to get help or blow his horn to raise the alarm would be really hard, some would say impossible (apparently the sounds these lizards made were unable to travel very far and they needed the horns on long distance).

And now Lizardmen? This is getting weirder by the second...

He had a skill that would work for that, but he never used it before. He explained his plan to the elves and while they were worried about the outcome they agreed on it. From behind a big rock John looked around to see if everyone was in position.

He focused on Stealth and began to disappear in the shadows, hidden in the bush growing behind a big stone. John felt himself disappear. He had given the group some instructions, not knowing exactly how it would work. He hadn't tried it yet but the Shadow Step he got with overcharged Stealth and Darkness Mastery should be able to teleport him between two hiding places.

He waited for the elves to close their eyes, once his stealth indicator showed a closed eye he focused on the dark corner in the caves behind the guards. Suddenly, his point of view shifted and he was looking at the back of the guards rather than their faces.

What kind of skill was that? Am I going to have that skill?

Life is a journey with infinite paths and infinite destinations. Yet some paths reach the same destination.

Okay, this was seriously getting weird, he was once again wearing something different in that vision and he had skills he didn't know how to use... The last time he felt this confused was... when the strange guy fell out of the sky while he fought Aranea's spiders! He kept spouting things that John had no idea about, but that somehow seemed to relate to him... Was it possible... that there are other 'Johns' out there? The idea seemed crazy, but these visions and the Abyss itself also seemed crazy, so there was no argument saying that it was impossible...

ᚤᛟᚢ ᚷᛟᛏ ᛏᛟ ᚠᛁᚷᚺᛏ ᚠᛟᚱ ᚤᛟᚢᚱ ᚱᛁᚷᚺᛏ

John climbed into the pit where Alexander was waiting for him. The hulk of a man looked impatiently at John, and when John didn't move he called out, "Are you seriously going to fight in those clothes? I'm not going to complain about stupidity, but I also want a fair fight."

Huh? A fight? Is this a fist fight? I don't see any weapons on the guy...

John's opponent was right; he wouldn't be able to properly fight in these clothes. He unequipped them and put on his Armor of the Wasteland Angel covering his head and body in the enchanted tires.

Another weird armor? What's up with my fashion sense? Am I switching my gear that often?

The audience seemed to like his armor, as they murmured approvingly. Alex meanwhile growled menacingly, looking at John, "Let's repeat the rules so that your bird brain can understand them. We fight until first blood or tapout, no magic, no transforming. No weapons and no objects to help you, straight up one-on-one melee. The winner gets her. Clear?"

John just nodded, concentrating on unscrambling the memories in his mind.

He was ready, his secret weapon was starting to take effect, and the anger inside him seemed to be an efficient source of energy.

Someone was going to bleed tonight, and it was not going to be John.

The paths we take are obstructed by mists. Our determination is what is required to cast aside this mist.

And once again, John was in the nothingness. Was there a point to these visions? Was it to show what can be? They certainly were a lot vaguer than the last vision that showed him Titania... He still had no idea how that would happen... The information on the Drop of Mimir said he would receive a single digit of visions, so in the best, or worst case however one wanted to look at it, he still had six visions to go.

ᚹᚺᛖᚾ ᛏᚺᛖᚱᛖ ᛁᛋ ᚾᛟ ᛗᛟᚱᛖ ᚱᛟᛟᛗ ᛁᚾ ᚺᛖᛚᛚ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛞᛖᚨᛞ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᚹᚨᛚᚴ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛖᚨᚱᛏᚺ

The battlefield was a slaughterhouse for the living. Not only were the dead extremely durable, but they were also extremely powerful, easily beating most of the living parties involved.

This... this is horrible! What the hell happened here that the dead start to attack the living?

Hehet was still sitting in the sands next to John, who picked her up and pulled her face towards him, looking deep into her eyes, "Do you see what your 'god' has given you? How he twisted his promise to you so that he could use you for his plans? But this doesn't have to be you. You are not him and you are not bound to his will. I can save you; I can shield you from him. But you have to trust me. So, what will it be?"

Tears ran down her face as Hehet began to answer, "My brothers, my family... All of them deceived and now dead... I have nothing to live for... leave me-" and John slapped her. Rage burning in his eyes, his own tears starting to fall.

"I will not let her sacrifice be in vain! If you have nothing to live for, then live for me! Live so that we can both see the day that he will pay for all the things that he has done, but don't just throw in the towel," John screamed as the hordes of the dead ran towards them.

'Her' sacrifice? Someone died... Someone important to me?

His words struck her heart. The light returned to her eyes along with a determination he hadn't seen since the dead had risen, "Then help me. Help me find him and make him pay. Rescue me..."

Demons run when a good man goes to war
Night will fall and drown the sun
When a good man goes to war
Friendship dies and true love lies
Night will fall and the dark will rise
When a good man goes to war

John woke up in the storage room of the Nexus, right where he drank the water... His head was swimming, filled with the knowledge of the things he had seen. None of them filled John with much determination about the future, all of them showed him that no matter what he did, conflict would somehow always find him...

Clutching his head, he saw Sarai appear in his peripheral vision, "Master! Are you alright? You have been out for quite some time... I can't tell how long exactly, but it was a long time! Is everything okay?"

He really wanted to say 'No', but something stopped him from that. All in all, these visions meant nothing. None of them were necessarily about him, and none of them were set in stone, so he could still change the future. "Yeah, I'm all right, just a bit of a headache..." he mumbled as he pulled out his phone to check the time.

His phone showed him that there were four unread messages he had received, three from unknown numbers and one from Brun.

John didn't have the time to respond though...

His clock showed that it was 7:25... He had to get his bus in 3 minutes!