Final Nomad XIII

Prologue

A train carrying hundreds of people, clad in white cloaks, sped along the countryside. One, in particular, was not happy to be there.

'Why? Why me? Why did this happen? We should have never gone to the festival! I don't want to be Purged! Why? Won't someone help me?'

To be fair, most of the people on the train were having those same thoughts. But this boy in particular, was special. This was the start of his journey. Where he would grow as a person, and wield powers he never could have imagined.

Or at least it would have been. Had been, in fact.

Too bad he felt it was necessary to throw a wrench in all that.

"Oh, spare me all the 'woe is me' crap. You don't want to be Purged, do something, idiot."

The boy turned to his mother. "Did someone say something just now?"

His mother turned to him, and gave a soft smile. "No. But don't worry. Everything will be okay."

"Shows what she knows. She'll be dead in a couple of hours."

"How DARE you talk about my mother's death like it's nothing! Like...it's a forgone conclusion!" he thought, harshly.

"Because it is. Unless YOU change that. She'll die protecting you, while you sit there sniveling like a bitch."

"Who are you anyway!?" he asked, incensed at the voice. He then could practically feel the voice grin in response.

Blackness swam across his vision, leaving only an entity with silver hair, much like his own. The general shape of the face was the same, too, though there was a blue tatoo under the left eye. His grin, however, was not similar to his own.

"I have many names. The most recent is Gig, the maddest of the mad, baddest of the bad. Before that, it was Vigilance, a self sacrificing sucker. Before THAT...I was a sniveling little bitch called Hope Estheim."

"But...that's impossible! I'M Hope Estheim!"

"Yeah. I know. I AM you. Every mistake you'll make, every regret you'll have... Is one I have. I art thou thou art I, and all that shit. All your pleasure, all your pain...I share it all. So, The way you're headed...Well, let's just say I don't like where it's going. So, instead of whining, I'm doin' something about it."

"You're... me from the future?"

"Bingo."

"How?"

"I'm the most hardcore asskicker to ever walk the face of the planet! I wanted to go back in time, so I did. I can create whole dimensions with a snap of my fingers! Time travel's a cakewalk."

"So...you're going to help me? So I won't get purged?"

"In a way."

"W...what does that mean?"

"It means...I'm going to need a body if I'm going to do anything. And wouldn't you know, there's one custom built for me!"

"What...are you going to do?!"

"I'm going to take your soul."

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, don't be like that. It's not like someone other than you is taking it. This will be more of a...merging, than an eating. Unfortunatley, since I have more soul than you, you're going to wind up pretty much eradicated. But, that's what you want. With our soul in your body, we'll get all we ever wanted. After all, I'm you. What I want, is what you will eventually want. And I want to take your soul. For starters. We'll just kind of wing it from there. Well, I will. Think of it as a...you scratch my back, I crush yours. Fair."

"That's not fair at all!"

"It is where I'm sitting. And you'll eventually sit here, so you consider it fair too."

"I won't if you eat me!"

"Oh, please. I eat paradoxes for breakfast. Maybe I should stop, though. The last one gave me gas."

"This is insane...this can't be happening..."

"You're talking to a you from the future who is going to fuck up Spacetime for kicks, got sealed into a sword by a zombie so her apprentice, who was a prince in another life, could kill extra-dimensional beings who wanted to eat the world, and that's leaving out quite a bit. Sanity has nothing to do with this. Never has. Now, quit your bitching and give me your soul!"

Everyone in the train car turned as a young boy with silver hair gave a resounding belch.

"Hope!" The woman next to him admonished.

"Hey, we're on a train to be executed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They want manners, they can go fu..."

The train rattled, as a large explosion went off.

"Oh, hey, It's party time already!"

The boy gave an evil grin.

"Let's get dangerous."