Chapter 5

I gathered all the tools I purchased and plenty of spares just in case and put them in the chamber I had found. I still only dug during the nights to continue to have a presence during the day for the people around the area. I was very fatigued during the days and usually only spent a couple of hours outside. The rest I spent taking short naps to let my energy back up. I felt myself getting stronger. Doing this type of rigorous digging would be an intense exercise for anybody.

I eventually ran out of money and the owner of the place I stayed told me to leave the next day. I didn't argue I just moved all my items into the chamber. I would have to be living in the chamber now, but I couldn't use the torches I had set up. I needed to collapse the entrance so that anybody that would stay there wouldn't notice anything. I made it so it would be easy for me to dig out if I needed to. Now I had to ration out the food I had but I was used to eating little by now.

Time started to fly by. I lost track of it completely. It was 1863 still but I wasn't sure about the month anymore. I encountered many different materials as I dug my way down. Some were too tough to break with the tools I had so I had no choice but to go around. I eventually started to encounter large rock chucks. I had made a type of pulley system in the chamber to help me get up, so I used that to remove the large rocks.

I eventually felt small gaps in the rocks as I was making my way down. I couldn't see at all since it was so dark, but I used my hearing and smell to navigate my way around. I felt a pocket of air coming from the gaps and I could smell something. It was nothing I've smelled before. As I carefully moved the rocks, I felt I had reached my destination. I knew I had arrived when I stuck my arm to reach another rock, I only encountered air.

I was so excited I started to cry. All the work had paid off. I took a moment for myself and later went up to the chamber to get a torch. I only needed to see enough to locate where his head was and set up my equipment to retrieve the blood. There was no way I would be able to get past his armor since it was made from celestial materials. I wish I could take some of it but I don't even know how to remove it. I was still happy to have reached this point, so it didn't depress me. I started to set up my equipment without the torch light since I could feel my way through it. Once everything was complete, I lit the torch up. When the light shined, I saw En Sabah Nur laying in a metallic looking flat surface. He was very intimidating even in his sleep. I carefully approached and located his neck artery. A normal person would bleed out, but he had regenerative abilities so I knew he would be okay. My concern was mostly if it would wake him up. I steeled myself and stuck him with the needle. I closed my eye waiting for him to blast me or cut me up, but nothing happened. I opened my eyes and saw the blood flowing into the bag.

"Thank you, En Sabah Nur, your donation is greatly appreciated" I spoke out loud.

I let the torch stay on since the blood flow was rapid. In a couple of minutes, I had already filled 3 bags each with a liter of blood. The air was starting to get hard to breath, so I had to extinguish the torch. I put my hand on the bag to tell when it was getting full. After feeling that the bag was full, I disconnected the connection to the bag and removed the needle. I touched his neck to make sure the wound closed and didn't feel an opening. I now went very carefully up the small vertical tunnel I made with the 4 blood bags. Once I reached the chamber, I put them in my bag and just laid down. I had to take a moment for myself again. After all this time, I finally retrieved someone's blood and not just anybody. It was Apocalypse himself. The first recorded mutant in history. The powers he had during the movies were nothing compared to how the comics portrayed him, but still he was such a big threat that Jean had to call upon her phoenix powers to kill him. It was the same thing that happened in the comics. In the movies he had the ability to teleport, create a force shield, matter manipulation, telekinesis, mental fortitude, knowledge absorption, and the ability to amplify other mutants' powers.

I was excited to inject the blood now, but I didn't know what happens when I do this. I've never done this, so I decided to leave the chamber and return to the surface. I worked my way carefully through the small tunnel leading to the room I used to be in and collapsing the tunnel on my way there. I only had to click the top about 6 times before it all the ground fell. I guess there were people here now as I heard screams. I said sorry before running outside. Thankfully it was dark, so I made my way out of this town through the alleys. I kept walking through the sands going west. I wasn't heading for another town but searching for a cave where I could do the blood injection. I wanted to be as far as possible from people. I didn't know if I could control the powers from the get-go or if during the process, I would lose control and hurt anyone near me.

The sun started to rise, and I could see a lot better now. I noticed a rocky area and approached it. There was a small gap where I could fit in between the rocks. It was perfect since it led to an opening on the other side. It wasn't big, but it was enough for me. I placed my bag down and took out the blood bags. I connected all of them to one tube and hung them together using rocks as supports. I took the needle and connected it to the tube and stayed silent for a bit. I was beginning to doubt myself. Was this going to work? What powers would I get? Would I get anything? Would I change skin colors?

I took a deep breath to calm myself. I had to take chances. I wanted to prevent James from having such a horrible future. I wanted to survive together with him. I wanted to help Victor not become some vile beast.

I injected the needle on the arm and laid down. I saw the blood start running down the tube. Once it entered, I immediately lost consciousness.

I woke up in the white space again. Sir was sitting in the same chair with an empty chair in front of him.

"Great…either I died, or you suddenly decided to pay me a visit." I said

"My dearest Lydia! How can you say that!" Sir said.

Wait for it…

"I could never get rid of someone like you." Sir said with a smile.

"There it is. So, oh powerful god, why have you graced this unworthy one with your presence." I exclaimed. Sir just laughed at my antics and gave me one of those creepy smiles.

"Its so entertaining watching you. I honestly didn't think you would go for this guy. Most people just go for making friends with other heroes as they come, but you actually went and found yourself one of the most powerful villains. Truly fascinating. No one has done that before." Sir said in an excited tone.

"Have I made a mistake?" I asked cautiously.

"No on the contrary, you've done an excellent job. You're quite unpredictable, you know? Every time I think I figured you out, you go and throw a curve ball." Sir said while laughing at the end.

"I hope this doesn't get to your head though. It'll be a shame to lose someone so entertaining."

"It won't. This is just the beginning." I finished as I smiled facing him. Sir was quiet for a few seconds before speaking again.

"Good. I'll be honest with you. This Earth will most likely perish if you can't stop the forces coming your way. It's not only the ones you know from the movies but also the comics. I've made a very good mixture just for you. I actually haven't made this combination of events for anyone else." Sir said excitedly.

"I'm honored." I said as I gave a sarcastic bow. Sir laughed again.

"You know 99% of the people would always talk with respect or worship me. I am glad you're different. I can't wait when everything starts to pick up. Toodles!" Sir said as the white space around me became dark.

I opened my eyes and noticed I was laying in a puddle of my own sweat. I tried to move but the moment I did pain shot through my whole body. It was like I had sparred with Victor for years with no rest. Even my fingernails hurt. I laid motionless for a bit until I mustered enough courage to try and move again. I pushed through the pain enough to lay my back against a nearby rock. It was dark outside, so I decided to close my eyes and rest.

I woke up to the sound of the wind rushing through the gap in the rocks. I took a moment to look at myself. Everything looked the same, but I felt more powerful. I tested my strength by putting my hands on the gap and pulling the rocks apart. I was surprised when I felt almost no resistance and rocks crumbled. I went outside and try to use telekinesis. I put my right hand towards the rocks the crumbled and try to pick it up. Nothing happened. I guess I need to practice that more. It'll be the same for the other powers most likely. I guess I was asking for too much to get total control right off the bat, but at least I think I acquired all his powers without turning blue. That was a big win for me.

I wanted to go back to Canada and see James and Victor, but I had to get more powerful. I wanted to aim for Charles Xavier next. The ability to read minds and influence others is something I needed. I knew the powers of En Sabah Nur gave me mental resistances, but I wanted to be on the offensive as well. Charles is not the only mutant with that ability. I needed to go to England and plan a way to get enough of his blood to permanently get his powers. In the meantime, I'll focus on mastering the new powers I got.

Walking east I went back to the Cairo and asked someone what the month and year it was. Only a couple of months past so that meant I was in a coma state when I injected myself with the blood. I wonder if that will happen every time I did that or it was only because how powerful En Sabah Nur was. I decided to walk back west again and go back to the cave I had found. During my walk there, I was brainstorming what I could do to get so much from Charles without killing him. I had to wait for from him to activate his powers. Charles was 12 when he met Raven, but it seemed like he had already activated his powers. The year he met her was 1944, so that would mean that he was born in 1932. It seemed like the Xavier's were a pretty rich family and had a mansion so they shouldn't be hard to locate. The issue was when to get the blood and how. I could kidnap him, but that might be a bit weird. I make that as a last resort. I definitely can't just ask for the blood. I could just somehow work for the family as a maid but that'll be tricky to accomplish. Kidnapping is starting so sound like a better idea. I'll just keep brainstorming ideas.

I arrived at the cave and decided focus on my surroundings. I was practicing my same way I used to hone my senses. I could feel something different when I focused on the rocks. I couldn't figure out what I was feeling. There was something surrounding the rock. A type of energy. I decided to stop for now. I switched to trying to search for the same energy around me. Maybe if I could understand the energy inside me, I could understand the energy outside. I meditated inside the cave trying to understand the energy swirling in me. There was definitely no control to the energy, it was just spirally out of control. I concentrated to slow it down and make it flow smoothly throughout my body. I spent hours doing this until I finally noticed a small change. I continued until I finally felt the energy travel smoothly. I allowed myself to merge with the energy. Once I got a hold of it, I tried pushing it out. Imagining a force field around as I pushed the energy out. When I opened my eyes, I noticed a faint blueish energy around me. It was flickering a lot and as I began to lose my focus, but I was just too excited to actually make a force field around me. Its going to be a long time before I become proficient like En Sabah Nur, but I am excited to finally have gained new powers. I can finally help James and Victor.

I continued to practice and gain a mastery of the new powers I gained. I was really anxious to learn how to teleport, but I knew better than to dive right into that. I started by just doing small distance teleporting to gain a better understanding on how it works. I never had the courage to do a long-distance trip, but I think I could succeed.

I managed to do some jobs around the nearby town to get some money and book a trip across the Mediterranean Sea to France. From there I would travel north and book another boat to reach England. I was still practicing the new powers and only a few weeks passed but I did manage to grasp a better understanding on them. I now didn't have to stand still in order to use them. I walked through the streets with my face covered and made my way to the pier. I only managed to get enough money to book a small boat, but the trip should take only a couple of days. The captain agreed to let buy a ticket if I also committed to doing some extra work around the boat. Then I heard the captain yelling.

"Set sail! Set course to Les Terrasses du Port!" The captain yelled.