Chapter 16 - Linked Souls

"You, you're me?" Mikael asked in surprise as he stared at the older image of himself.

"No, actually I'm not." The older Mikael responded as he went to sit on a nearby rock before he continued.

"See at first I thought we were the same person as well but i soon realized that wasn't the case." The older Mikael motion for his younger counterpart to take a seat on the rock across from him.

"If you're not me then who are you?" Mikael asked as he sat down.

"That is what I'm here to clear up. I'm here to explain what happened to you, to us. I am Mikael Bashar and although we look alike we are two entirely different people." The older Mikael began to explain as Mikael began to knit his brow.

"Let me start from the beginning then. I am, as it turns out, an anomaly in my world. I was born decades before I was supposed to. See I wasn't supposed to have been born until decades later after the war had already begun. I would go on to join the temple on Coruscant before becoming a padawan on Tython. I would then go on to become the one you may know as the Hero of Tython and eventually the Outlander. I believe you know the rest of that story." Mikael's eyes widened at that information as Bashar paused before continuing.

"Because I was born early I would not be able to go through the things necessary to become the person I was meant to and as such I would not go on to defeat Tenebrae. So to make up for that anomaly the Force found in answer in you. You happened to exist at the same time I did and you happened to have the knowledge I needed to put things back in order. So the force reached out and connected us.

When you were struck by lightning, I was on my way to the spaceport on Brentaal to head to Coruscant when I was also struck by lightning. The difference was that I woke up in an hour and you took two weeks. I woke up with around your 17 years worth of knowledge pertaining to the future of my world and you woke up with the knowledge and experience I gained over the decades of my life until my death." Bashar explained as he watched Mikael's reaction.

"But the memories felt so-"

"Real? Vivid? That's because they were more visions than memories. The force showed them to you, gave them to you. Do you have any memories of my day to day life?" Bashar asked as Mikael grew quiet as he pondered the question.

"Have you never wondered why you never remembered searching for a way home or why you never seemed to remember your parents in those memories?" Mikael's head started to raise as his brow knit together and the pieces began falling into place.

"It's because it never happened. I didn't receive the memories of your family, of your life outside of the knowledge of the universe I lived in. Just as you didn't receive the memories of mine. You received the experiences that made me what I am but not who I am."

"But then what happened to me? Why did my world change?" Mikael asked.

"It was a side effect. The Force had to breach time and space to link our spirits together. In so doing it tore the fabric of your reality. While normally that damage can recover on its own, your reality wasn't strong enough to do so. It's why there were no superpowers or supernaturals in your reality." Bashar answered as he waved his hand and a translucent image of two identical planets appeared in front of him.

"So when those tears happened if it was left alone your reality would collapse and with it you would die. So in order to prevent that the Force pushed your reality to merge with another nearby. One that as it so happens held enough similarities that it could be done with minor changes." Mikael watched as the two planets overlapped seamlessly until only one remained.

"But shouldn't someone have noticed that happen?"

"Normally yes but because everyone that existed in your reality fortunately also existed in this one the changes that happened were targeted towards making your reality merge seamlessly. Think of it like this. Your old reality is an aquarium and this current one is an ocean. What happened was like if we took everything from the aquarium and put it into the ocean while removing the things that don't belong. Would anyone really notice the change in the ocean? And if they did, would they really care?"

"So what exactly changed?"

"Not much, most things stayed the same. The biggest change was the removal of all knowledge of the Marvel and Star Wars universe and instead those things were replaced with different movies or comic books in their place. Everything else was minor, changes to names, where people worked. The only exceptions might be that some people in this world got the opportunity to become something more special."

"Then what about me? Shouldn't I have already existed in this universe?"

"You did but because the only difference between the two versions of you was that Star Wars didn't exist in this reality, when you merged into this reality you simply became one and because you were connected to the Force your memories remained as they were."

"Then what about the Force? I didn't think it existed in Marvel."

"That was the other side effect of linking our souls. See I'm not really here, what you see now is a piece of me. And like how you have a piece of my spirit, I had a piece of yours. And when I died at the end it wasn't just my spirit absorbed all of that power, yours did too. But because our spirits were still linked at that moment, that part of your spirit returned to you and with it all of that power along with this piece of my spirit and the knowledge I've gained and the experience I've accumulated up to my death. That caused the force to become a concept in this reality and also turned you into the living embodiment of the Force in this universe. It's also why it took you two weeks to wake up." Bashar explained before he grew quiet waiting for Mikael to process the information.

"So why are you here? Why are you telling me this?" Mikael asked though his mind still reeled from the sudden revelation.

"To make things clear for you. To help you."

"How does dumping all this information on me help me?"

"Because while I've been sitting here explaining things to you, you finally have a moment where you are not actively using your power. And because of that your spirit now has the chance to finish assimilating the piece that returned and all the power that came with it. It's the main reason why you didn't have the control you expected to. Your spirit wasn't yet in one piece, so whenever you tried using your power it was though there were two of you doing the same thing." Mikael recoiled in shock at the answer he was given.

"Yeah this conversation was to delay time." Bashar told him with a grin.

"Well then this should be resolved now right?" Mikael asked as he recovered from the realization and finished processing the information.

"Yes it should. Once this is over your spirit will be whole again. However don't let that stop you from continuing to grow. And you should keep using that training method, a stronger spirit comes with benefits of its own." Bashar answered as his form started to grow illusory and the world around them began as fade.

"That said, my story is done. It's your turn Argent. You have all of my knowledge and training, make good use of it." Mikael heard his voice whisper in his ear as the world around him faded away and revealed the familiar interior of his bedroom. He looked around as he noticed the slight discomfort he had up to this point had disappeared. He waved his hand and all the loose objects lifted into the air and rotated around the room before settling down neatly in place. He longer had the feeling of being overcharged with power instead it felt calm and peaceful. Balanced.

Mikael stood up and moved to go outside eager to find somewhere he could truly test the limits of his abilities for the first time. As he took one step out of his bedroom he heard a whisper in the back of his head.

"One last bit of help that may solve one of your problems. Now then I'm off to torment that little nerf herder Bane." The familiar voice rang out as the information regarding the blueprint of a geological compressor appeared in his mind. The sounds of chuckling faded from his mind as Mikael left his home.