A brand new day has begun and today I'm planning a super important task for myself; I'm going to try everything I possibly can to activate my soul powers.
Although I don't know where to start. I tried to ask Alter for help but she did not have a clue either and returned to her tasks for the day.
Ego just shrugged and left me alone without an answer. So I thought about and decided to just go with what I know from my memories.
The first thing I'm trying out is meditation, I mean people who deal with supernatural stuff are always meditating so I figured I'd give it a go.
I cleared my mind and waited in silence. I reached out towards no particular direction letting the flow take me. I did this for a few minutes trying not to think of anything in particular.
I suddenly had the erge to eat for some reason, I started to think of all the finest meals derailing from original objective completely. For a brief second I sensed something but as I tried to focus on it, it suddenly disappeared.
I wander what that was? But I felt something even if it was just a split second, this means I'm on the right track.
I returned to my meditation only to be met with nothing. Why! I was so close last time but now, nothing! Why can't I just have a have it easy.
What? I've had I pretty easy so far? Wrong! I almost dies multiple times since I was born in this world! Plot armor has nothing to do with it, okay!
I'm so mentally exhausted to do anything anyway. I'll just continue with what I was doing. Meditation was a bit of a bust although it did have some kind of result nothing of substance truly came from it.
I'll just mark it as a maybe. On to the next item on the agenda, praying.
In some cases people gain their power from gods, deities and other entities and to gain such powers they usually have to pray to their god.
Why do I think I have some patron deity who's going to grant me holy powers to smite my enemies? I mean, considering the experiences I've had, wouldn't you? That wind thing that saved me definitely wasn't a coincidence that's for sure. There is also the thing that Ego mentioned yesterday.
The Previous Day
Ego: So I realised something today.
Alter and I were interrupted from our chess match when Ego suddenly spoke up. I honestly have to thank him because Alter was too good it's like she can read my mind!
Maybe she can, she is incharge of the mind and all. She even fixed my mental image generator (still don't really know what that has to do with my domain) and now we actually see each other. In a mental kind of way.
A few hours ago we were just disembodied voices speaking to each other in a void, now we're caterpillars speaking to each other...in a void. Yeah not much has changed but it is only our first day with each other so it's to be expected that change is slow.
Alter: What now?
Alter turns her head to him. We all took the same form with a few differences here and there. Ego was much physically larger then both Alter and I, and the spots on his body were gold. Alter had silver spots and a few extra segments in her body making her longer than us. And lastly I was a spitting image of our actual body with my black spots. The only trait we all shared was that we all had white bodies and the placement of the spots.
Ego: What's with the sass I haven't even done anything.
Alter: Yet.
Alter stated blankly at him her compound eyes gleaming with annoyance.
Ego rolled his head letting out a long sigh escaped from his large mandibles.
Ego: Geez, you really need to get that stick removed. Anyway I realised that the animals in this place don't notice us.
"What do you mean they don't notice us?" I tilted my head. "I was attacked by a bird a mere hour after my hatching!"
Alter: Correction you were nearly attacked by a bird.
"Not the time!"
Ego: Well from what I've noticed the creatures in this forest don't seem to sense us. Exhibit A; that rat-bear thing from before we ate the red orb didn't give us the time of day.
Alter: It could be that it simply did not care for our presence or was looking for something else. It could be a herbivore for all we know.
Ego: And what would it eat, grass?
Alter: Since it burrows and I presume it has excellent olfactory functions I deduce it would eat legumes and tree roots.
Ego: Know it all. Anyway earlier today I landed on one of those must unicorns, don't ask how, and it didn't even notice me I was right of its face and nothing happened.
"Ego what does this have to do with to do with anything?"
Alter: I concur.
Ego: Don't you see, we were easily noticed by the bird outside the forest but inside of it we're completely invisible. There is something in this forest giving us this property.
"I guess you could be right considering I was forced to come here by the wind itself."
Alter: Surprising that you of all beings were able to make that connection, well done Ego, my perception of you has slightly increased.
Ego: I don't know whether that's a complement or an insult. Considering your track record it's probably both.
The two looked as if they were going to argue again.
"By the way did you two sense something strange earlier in the day?"
They both turned to me.
Alter: Strange how?
"I was in the meditating when I got distracted thinking about food then I sensed something but it quickly disappeared as I tried to focus on it."
Ego: Nah. Never felt anything like that.
I turned to Alter who was in the middle of thinking.
Alter: Hmmm. I didn't feel such a thing either however I have a hypothesis; I thinking about food brought the sensation about maybe that's the key to accessing your power.
"Seriously? The key to my powers is food? I'm not that much of a glutton, am I?"
Ego: Bah. Don't think of it that way, we are a growing body so we need all the nutrients we can get.
Ego waved my thoughts away.
Ego: Now let's play I got a score to settle.
Alter smirked.
Alter: Bold of you to assume you're winning.
The next day Ego and Alter returned to their stations and I am left alone again.
"So all I have to think about is food? That should be easy."
I closed my eyes—well, as much as a caterpillar can close their eyes—and tried to focus. Food. Just think about food.
Instantly, my mind was flooded with images. Not memories of actual meals I'd eaten, but... possibilities. Leaves of every shape and color. Fruits I'd never seen before, dripping with juice. The boar meat from two nights ago, but this time cooked over a flame, seasoned with something aromatic.
My mouth watered. My stomach growled.
And then I felt it again.
That something from before. A flicker at the edge of my consciousness, like a muscle I'd never used twitching for the first time.
'Don't focus on it,' I told myself. 'Just keep thinking about food.'
I imagined more. A river of honey. A mountain of soft bread. A tree whose bark was made of caramel. Absurd, impossible things—but my body didn't care. The hunger surged, and with it, that flicker grew stronger.
Warmth spread through my core. Not in my stomach, but somewhere deeper. Somewhere that felt like me in a way my physical body never had.
Then I heard a voice. Not Ego's. Not Alter's.
A whisper. Fragmented. Like words spoken underwater.
...consume... adapt... evolve...
The warmth exploded into heat. I felt something crack inside me—not painfully, but like a shell breaking open. Light bloomed behind my eyes, and for a single, breathtaking moment, I saw...
I don't really know what it was. It was blurry and hard to see like ghost trying to stay visible.
Then as soon as it as appeared it was gone.
I was back in the void, breathing hard—if personalities could breathe.
Ego: "Whoa! What the hell was that? My whole body just lit up like a firework!"
Alter: "I felt it too. Blank, what did you do?"
'I... I don't know. I just thought about food, and then—'
Alter: "Something happened. Something significant. I'm detecting a new... presence in our mental scape. It's faint, but it's there."
Ego: "New presence? Like a fourth voice? Because I really don't want to share headspace with anyone else. You two are already pushing it."
Alter: "Not a voice. More like... an ability. Dormant, but registered. Blank, I think you succeeded."
I sat in silence, processing.
'I think I touched something. My soul, maybe. Or whatever powers it. But I couldn't hold onto it. It slipped away as soon as I noticed it.'
Alter: "That's normal. First attempts usually are. The important thing is that you've opened a door. Now we just need to learn how to walk through it."
Ego: "So... more food thinking?"
'More food thinking.'
Ego: "Finally, a training regimen I can get behind."
I would have laughed if I had a mouth. Instead, I just felt a small glow of satisfaction. It wasn't much. But it was a start.
Outside, in the physical world, the forest rustled. Somewhere in the distance, a creature howled—a long, mournful sound that raised the hairs I didn't have.
Ego: "We should get moving. Sitting in one place too long is asking for trouble."
Alter: "Agreed. Blank, you can continue your... food meditation... while Ego navigates. Just don't distract him to the point of getting us eaten."
'No promises.'
Ego grinned—I could feel it. "Finally, the kid's getting a sense of humor."
My body began to crawl, exiting the hole and emerging into the pale morning light. The black trees loomed overhead, their twisted branches forming a canopy that filtered the sun into strange, dappled patterns.
Somewhere deeper in this forest, answers waited.
But for now, I had food to imagine.
And a very long way to crawl.