You don't just yet

Everything feels numb, like when you sleep on your arm wrong and just before the pins and needles set in; nothingness. You're breathing, but you aren't; you seem to be watching Prime perform CPR on you, though only the compression part, it seems. 'This is how I die? Putting on some mystical, old-as-time artifact and then just slumping off a couch?' Honestly, there are worse ways to go than in your sleep, but it's not how you envisioned your ****; well, not exactly, at least. Looking down at yourself, you find that your own body has taken on the same look as Prime did when its figure was yours, the lines on your body brightening with every little movement of your hands.

"Do you really think you are dead, my son? Hahaha, nothing as mundane as **** would dare touch my pride and joy!" Everything around you boomed with a deep, rich baritone voice; a voice filled with joy and pride aplenty. 'Your son? Wait, Dad!?' You spin around looking around the room; all other sounds you'd typically hear, like the birds or wind outside, have fallen silent. Even the sounds Prime should be making are lost to you despite her mouth moving. Your wild looks around lead to nothing out of the ordinary; you find that your hands pass right through the couch though, that's pretty neato. A hand clasps your shoulder, a firm but not tight grip, it turns you around to look directly behind you, and you see him. Your father; looks just like Prime showed, with jaw and all. "My son. My joy. I wish I had the time and ability to convey the wonder I feel to see you here finally." 'Wait, you're actually my father? Am I your son? Where are we? Am I dead? I don't want to be dea...' He puts his hands on your shoulder and smiles, "Breath, child, it is alright. You are my son, and I am your father, forever shall that be true." His following chuckle is warm and soft; the act alone calming more of your nerves than you thought possible. "You are in the transitional period of your life; the point in which you become that which I knew I had to hide from you and the universe to ensure your safety. Coming in contact with the Binder is reversing the biological changes I had to make to complete your illusion. When you awake, both your powers and body will be reborn anew, though your powers unfortunately much less than I would dare hope." 'I have powers? I've never noticed anything like that.'

He smiles again and moves his hands from your shoulders to your head, then pulls them back, taking a blue orb with him. He spaces out his arms, and the orb expands with; a scene plays out within it. It's you when you got hit by a car when biking to school at 13; the car never even stopped to see if you were okay, but it didn't matter. You see yourself careen through the air before landing on your back; your bike totaled but you without a scratch. You always assumed that you got lucky, but now... "Your "powers" were manifested in ways I couldn't predict when I first altered you. I couldn't imagine the process would harness your energy in alternate ways, your potential rivals that of mine, my son. Your mother would be proud if she were here." He glances to the still life-saving figure of Prime, her chest and hair bouncing in rhythm with her compressions to your heart. "It seems she already is, in a way; I wish I could join you, both of you, in the light, but I am not long for any part of my creation." 'What do you mean? You're right here. I need your help; I need you!' A single golden tear wells in his eye; blinking it away, he dismisses the orb and begins moving his hands again in rapid formation.

"I have little time, so I must tell and teach you what you need to know. First, the Binder." He conjures an ethereal image of the crown, placing it in the air in front of the both of you. "Your mother made it as a gift to me for creating her; it was her life's pride until you came along. She never knew what power it could lead to until I first donned it. The Binder, when given an Anchor, a master to link to, is placed upon another it shares the Anchor's psionic potential and power with the one who wears it, the Conduit. This process's first-time event leads to a soul bond between the Anchor and Conduit, one so strong and encompassing that it becomes existential. So long as the Anchor shall exist, then so shall the Conduit; this bond is permanent to both of them. The Conduit is controlled, owned, and defined by the Anchor, a binding of Master and Servant. The sharing bond, though, came with an unusual but extraordinary side effect; the sharing of power became embedded in the soul of the Conduit; therefore, they themselves began to share this power with their master." You felt confused but quickly came around to such power's implications: owning someone, in heart, mind, and soul. You can't lie; it sounds like something you want more than anything else. 'So what? It's a feedback loop? The more you have, then the more they have to give back?' He nodded solemnly like this fact was the worst news he could give. "This effect was unknown to us at first when I became the Anchor, but when your Mother bonded with me, we found that with every passing second our power grew; not by much, the Conduit only feeds back a portion of what is given back to the Anchor. It was enough to notice and be noticed. The other clan's heads wanted the Binder to themselves and stopped at nothing to achieve it, knowing none of them could ever hope to make such an artifact. So I hid it away until I discovered that your Mother disappeared; knowing that you and I would be next, I had you taken away, with the right precautions in place for the Binder to be taken to you when the time was dire. If you have it, it means that your uncle has returned to Earth to deliver it and seek out our enemies."

'My uncle? He's here on the planet? Why isn't he with me to... I don't know! Protect me?! Or hell, even teach me?!' You felt hurt and scared now that you were being revealed the truth; a dangerous foe lurked in the universe, one destined to hunt you down relentlessly. The stern and dedicated look he held faltered, and with that, he sighed. "To protect you, but I wish I knew child; I am only a portion of my soul put in the Binder to await your interaction with it. Any event after I put myself in here is beyond my ability and knowledge" 'So you're not really here? Will you always be in here or something?' He shakes his head, "Unfortunately not; my soul piece is disseminating into yours as we speak, giving a needed boost to your power to start. You already have the capability to become infinitely more powerful than every one of our people combined. Now with the Binder, you have the ability to supersede all of creation given time."

'So I can become a god? That's scary, to say the least Dad, I don't really know if I can do anything like that.' Scary was the biggest understatement imaginable; you felt terrified that both this much power and danger was so easily within your grasp. "You will with time son, much time. Second, our enemies. The ones I once gladly called friends now will stop at nothing to kill you and take the crown. Do. Not. Let. Them. Your power is weak so you must do what the Binder is meant to do; bind. No creature other than our species has even an inkling of psionic potential so you must bind as many humans as you can at first. The bond shared between you will compound with more and more beings sharing it, the more power you receive, the more they may give. You have 4 heads of the clans to worry about, you cannot know their names as they will become psionically aware if someone discovers their true names but it matters not. You will know them the moment they come close anywhere near this side of existence, but not their agents; many of them shall be on earth looking for you, the Binder, and your uncle."

"Out of all my son, heed this. Our people are innumerable, but so many have left this cosmos to start their own. The Binder works on our people. Of those who are left, dominate them, or destroy them if you can not. Crush them until dust remains and nothing else. Conquer this planet, this galaxy, everything. Soon your power will grow beyond needing the Binder for control, and all of creation will bow and obey your slightest whim." 'I'm getting a supervillain feeling here Dad, wouldn't be conquering all be wrong?' Your father looks down and notices his feet are evaporating; he's dying. Again. 'Dad?'

He pulls you close and hugs you so tightly you can't breathe; you grit your teeth and squeeze your eyes shut as a burning sensation begins to overtake you. "You are my son. They took my life, your mother's, and would happily take yours. You matter most; all else be damned. You are to be superior to even me, especially to them. Keep Prime safe, I made them for you, they will protect you as I would. I love you, my shining joy, I always wi..." Silence. You open your eyes, and your father is gone. For the last time. With his absence, you find that you're falling. Falling. Falling.