Chapter 21) ...The Sentinel

"Well. THAT is not what I thought would be the case. Hmm...so does that mean you have memories from my past.. selves?"

He looked askance at me with amusement. He started to pace in a circle around me.

"It seems the current Sentinel has a better understanding on things in comparison to the past versions. To put it simply, yes. I do hold the collection of the past Sentinels. I will rain on your parade a bit though, and say that there haven't really been that many Sentinels. To be specific, there have only been three, with you being number four."

My jaw could only drop at that. An almost maniacal laughter bellowed from this old coot of a dragon.

"Ah, hehehe. You are definitely more fun to talk to than last ones, almost without competition. All but one other Sentinel was even in your age group and she was only amusing because her poker face was non existent. She could never lie to me, no matter how hard she tried, and she had the most adorable pouty fa-"

"Can you please not reminisce in front of me? I have questions and you have answers. I'll limit myself to only a couple of questions because with us being together for the foreseeable future, I know I at least have time for answers later."

His smile froze before he let out a huff. He started stroking a non existent beard before waving his hand, forming two chairs and a table.

"Well then lets get to it."

~

"WHY THE HELL DOES HE KEEP CHANGING THE TEMPERATURE IN HERE!!"

The room was a complete mess. Scorch marks all over the walls in weird waves, while other spots were coated in layers of frost. The room was basically un-inhabitable, so Tricia and I could only watch this stuff from the doorway. It had seemed to be reaching a peak when everything stopped once again. We waited for for few minutes before realizing it finally stopped. I took the first step into the room and cautiously walked closer to the living weather bomb that did all this. Jason's body seemed to have become even more impressive than I could remember, as his whole body seemed to contain explosive power. Every breath he took, his muscles rippled.

'If Tricia gets close enough to see this, I think we will have to add water damage to the list of things that happened to this room. Damnit man, every time I feel even a little good about my own physique, this damn giga-chad knocks me down a peg without even trying! I mean seriously, what does he eat?'

Poor Tricia by the door was trying to come closer before I immediately shooed her away saying it still wasn't safe and I should be the one to make sure everything is stable. With that, I took note of a particular problem.

'Mrs. Grey is not gonna like this...'

The black ring that was usually sitting on Jason's finger, had fused with him, transforming into a small tattoo exactly where it used to sit. I took note of this, and after making sure he was fine, I started to head upstairs to get him some clothes.

"I wouldn't recommend going in there, unless you're willing to face a demigod with his weapon of choice laying visible to the world. I'm going upstairs to get him some clothes, lest his very visage make the poor world bashful."

I left Tricia at the door with these words and a dramatic exit, because if my thoughts are right, her curiosity will get the better of her!

~

"First question: Do you have a name, or did the other Sentinels give you one each time?"

The dragon looked at me with utter bafflement.

"Of all the questions I thought you'd ask first, that was definitely not it. To be honest, I did have my name changed every other Sentinel I merged with. I do have a request on that matter though, and that is to be called that name you've been thinking this whole time starting when you heard my voice."

I had a light blush of embarrassment reach my face.

"You hear my thoughts?"

"Haha. Jason, I AM your thoughts."

I could only shake my head at that.

"(sigh). So you want me to call you Paarthurnax?"

"Yes, Yes! Well, either that, or Vesemir, like that old fellow you have in mind."

'I suppose this works out instead of me bullshitting a name for him...'

"Yes, it does work out. Thanks for being understanding."

My face froze. I sighed once again before giving him a mental confirmation on this matter.

"Alright Vesemir, second question: Why didn't you show yourself before now?"

He raised an eyebrow at that one.

"This question is even simpler. You just hadn't awoken yet. You had suppressed that memory of yourself so deep, you limited yourself to the point where you were nothing but a slightly above average mortal."

I immediately locked onto something with that answer.

"Your phrasing there seems a bit off. You make it sound as though I'm not mortal now that I've awoken."

He put on a smirk, but otherwise shrugged.

"It's because you aren't. The second you awakened, you became the Sentinel. All Sentinels are long lived because they are tasked with protecting life. Not friends, not humans, not just Earth. Life in the known and unknown universe, is directly at stake when you are born, and YOU as the sole Sentinel, have to solve the major crisis. Whether it be tomorrow, or in a millennium. It is the reason why you all live for so long. You will stay at the pinnacle of your power for as long as it takes for the problem to be fixed, or outright annihilated."

A grave expression crossed his face at this time.

"...Needless to say, some of the previous Sentinels had to sacrifice themselves to repel the enemy or finish off their designated task.

A grim silence took hold between us. I only just came to the realization my whole purpose will either boil down to being a martyr for the new age, or barely surviving to become the messiah. Another question cropped up from his statement though.

"You said a couple of Sentinels had to sacrifice themselves to 'repel' the enemy, not slay?"

He awkwardly whistled and looked around the void with a new fascination. He finally rested his face into the palms of his hands.

"The first, and third. They fought the same enemy, and could only tie with it, so they sealed it away hoping for the next Sentinel to be the one to finish the job. Lucky or unlucky, for the Sentinels that came before and after them, the seals stood strong for a bit too long, skipping generations at a time...I sadly have to say, you're probably going to be the one to fight it this time around. I won't lie to you, and I will even use your own era's terminology for this. Ahem...Shits gonna suck reeeaal bad dude."

My eye twitched a bit with his weird wording but gave him a nod anyway.

'Well shit.'

"I have a question for you Jason."

"Go ahead."

"Well I'm curious. From the memory you watched, you did awaken as a Sentinel, but only AFTER all that blood was in the room. My question is, What exactly did your mother turn you into before you died back then?"

"Oh is that it? After I watched those memories something inside me felt like it clicked into place. I originally thought it was this whole Sentinel thing but while we talked, I played around with that feeling and figured one thing out."

"Oh and what's that?"

"I'm what people can call a true shapeshifter."

After my declaration I started morphing into a myriad of animals in front of him, while he could only express sheer shock all over his face.

I stopped my morph show and sat back down with a smug look. Poor Vesemir couldn't even contain his astonishment, and simply gaped at me trying to figure out how a human woman had created a shapeshifter child.

'Her level of intelligence has to be in the upper 2% of the universe...wait. Doesn't that mean...'

Vesemir looked up at me now.

'Maybe this Sentinel has a chance at finally fulfilling the task! Just from being her child, and looking at his memories, his father doesn't seem to be a slouch either, his intellect alone might guide him to victory. This kid is just....UNFAIR!'

Vesemir started thrashing around pulling his hair out in clumps like some patient from the fifth ward of a hospital.

"Hey uh, Vesemir? You good buddy?"

The thrashing stopped and with a loud sigh, he turned to look at me.

"I'm going to be honest with you. You are by far, the only Sentinel to start at such a high position for growth. Your potential is monstrous, your mental acuity makes some of the old gods seem like brain dead dogs, and this freakish mutation you've been put through is unique to only you as I can't recall any races in the universe that have nearly as diverse a shapeshifting ability as yours. Most of those races pick one beast, and they're marked as exceptional if they can transform into more than one beast or a beast more than three times their size. You seemingly have no limitation, and that just goes to show how absurd you are."

"With all this I guess I should start giving you training on how to control mana and-"

"Oh mana? I kind of already figured it out and have been using it for a week. I guess it'll be easier if I just push my memories related to it over your way."

Memory fragments glided down from their orbit and seemingly fused with Vesemir for a few moments before he looked at me with an even more incredulous look.

"Am I even needed at this point? Honestly, I mean...seriously? You've already mastered basic elemental manipulation without any form of incantation. You've already almost mastered the intermediate level elements as well, and you already have an idea as to how to control the the advanced and prime elements...and, and what was that thing you referred to as 'mana baptism'?"

"Oh that? I figured as I get stronger my body would need reinforcement. While I already developed a reinforcement type magic, I figured why cast it in combat when I can just keep it active at all times, ya know? It also helped me control my usage and wastage of energy to do tasks, and ended up raising my physical limits to new extremes. I guess I could say I'm partially made of pure energy now hahaha."

I lightly chuckled to myself while Vesemir turned sullen. He crouched down and started drawing little circles into the ground while muttering to himself.

'Ahh, poor Vessy. He lost his whole reason to exist after I did everything he was supposed to teach me. Sometimes I shock myself with my sheer genius. (sigh) Gods I am one sinful lad.'

Vesemir immediately started coughing blood and foaming at the mouth.

'The universe isn't ready for this brat's full awakening. Tsk, is this his true personality that's been repressed for so long? Father, guide me onto the path of this child's redemption before he becomes spoiled rotten.'

With those thoughts, he fell unconscious from 'blood' loss.

'Ahhh I guess it's about time I wake up.'

A flash of light, and my body dispersed.

~

I woke up feeling like a brand new person, the room, however, looked like hell escaped. As I scanned my surroundings I couldn't help but notice I was both not in the clothes I remembered wearing before, and I was in a crater. 'Well this is something.' As I started getting up Luna and Kuma both tackled me.

'Young master! Are you alright?! Is everything okay master???!!'

'Baby Jay, are you okay?! You had me worried sick!'

I ended up right back on the ground with them pawing me everywhere, checking everywhere for signs of injury.

'It's alright you two. I made a bit of a mental development, and that seems to have caused a bit of concern for everyone. Sorry.'

This marginally reassured them before they allowed me to get back up, letting me finally notice Nick and Trish standing by the doorway.

"Well don't act like strangers, get over here."

They looked at each other before looking back at me. At that moment Nick decided to counter:

"Isn't this that moment in shows where your friend or lover wakes up being possessed by some evil entity and only through the power of like, love and friendship can we get our person back and together we suppress the evil inside you? Well, we were waiting for that."

Tricia was nodding along with this, confirming she felt the same way, keeping caution in her eyes.

My eye began to twitch.

"Alright, let me prove I am who I should be. Nick, you tell everyone you stopped pissing your pants as a kid early, when in reality you were the last one to leave diapers in our circle of friends because your mother was worried you had a condition. Tricia, you snore like a pug, really loud, and super snotty. The reason I know is because I caught you taking a nap in one of the studies after apparently reading one of the books in there, and when I woke you up, you begged me not to say anything about it."

Both their faces went ashen, before eventually going red with anger and embarrassment. In unison, both shouted:

"YOU TOLD ME YOU WOULDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THAT!!"

After I laughed hysterically for a bit I walked over to them, and for some reason, I felt as though they were a lot more short?

Both of them ended up craning their necks to look up at me, more so than usual.

"What are you guys looking at? Is there something on my face?"

They both shared a look before speaking up.

"Jay? You do realize you're like, 8" taller right? You also seem a bit more bulky."

Seeing my confused look they led me to a mirror and I couldn't help showing a shocked look.

"This is me? Well, Dad did say I got the best from both him and Mom."

While looking in the mirror, I couldn't help but notice that my body seemed to have aged a couple of years. My physique had gone up another notch, while my face became a little more rigid and defined, giving me a more masculine look. It seemed I had the beginnings of a rough stubble underway as well. My brown hair had lengthened to reach my shoulders, my skin took on a more bronzed look, and my eyes seemed more vibrant. I turned around and saw them waiting for me to say something.

"Well, is it a bad look?"

Tricia couldn't look at me anymore, finding a new fascination with my ceiling. Nick on the other hand gave me a once over and nodded appreciatively.

"Yup, seems like you've at least gained half my looks. Congratulations, you're now a 6 out of 10."

My face became a mask of rage. I suppressed it as quickly as I could before giving him a cold smile. I watched as a shiver abruptly graced him.

"Luna? I found you a new toy. Have fun with the hunt."

His face fell when I opened the door.

"I'll give you a ten second head start as you are my friend. After that, well. I hope you at least make it to the tree line."

Before I even finished speaking, he was out the door. I made sure he touched the tree line before turning around.

"That should have him occupied for a while. Hmph. As though I need half HIS looks. He is lucky if he ever reaches 2% of this Young Master's looks. Luna, don't even bother chasing him. It will be more funny when he comes back after realizing you never left."

Luna flicked her tail and went upstairs, clearly disappointed in not being allowed to play with the new toy. Kuma came over and stayed by my side, staring at Tricia.

'Young Master, at least I shall say you have definitely become the wet dream of all young mistresses. Look at poor Tricia over there. The girl is desperately clamping her legs together even as we speak. I shall watch your door tonight to make she does not mount you tonight while she is seemingly in heat.'

I gave him a cursory glance before conveniently deleting his comment on Tricia from my memories.