"Hey! Is anyone still alive!? Hello!"

"Chough cough"

I suddenly started to cough, only it wasn't saliva and air coming out ..it was my own blood.

Dammit all is my body really that weak! I only cast a few spells, and even if those spells were taxing they shouldn't have broken me this much!.

So then….could I have taken a harder tumble than I thought?.

I decided that while my condition was taxing, my plans of finding people were now more urgent, at least if I wanted to live.

"Hello, is anyone there please I need help!" -Suddenly a voice called out from around the corner of a nearby building

Pulling my body along I managed to stumble around the corner of the broken house.

Having rounded the corner I saw a young boy perhaps just about my age lying under a pile of fallen rubble.

"Oh thank god…"-The boy's words were caught in his throat in the middle of his sentence, he had expected to see a young boy coming to help him out but instead his eyes now lay upon what he could only describe as a crimson haired corpse.

The boy in front of him wore a stark white hospital gown stained with blood matching the colour of his hair, yes indeed seeing a person leaning on a piece of wood looking like a fresh corpse was not what he expected, but hey help is help no matter where it comes from!

"Heyyy you don't look so good ... .there..there isn't anyone else with you is there?"

"No it's just me, mind telling me what happened here?"

The boy in front of me frowned, his honestly quite strange black line across his face bending making it look like an eyebrow.

"Look I would love to, but seeing as I'm currently stuck under rubble I'd like to get out first!"

I took a close look at the rubble pinning him, it seemed like it was being held up by a single stone. If I moved that then most of it would be able to be pushed off.

"Hey let's make a deal, I know a bit of gravity magic so I could free you if you agree"

"Ok, that seems reasonable, what do you want?"

"I'm running low on magic power and I'm pretty sure if I cast a spell I'm going to collapse, so I want you to promise me that you will take me to get help after I free you, deal?"

The boy just stared incredulously at me.

"You would trust me a complete stranger to save you?"

"Well seeing as I'm most likely going to die if I don't anyway..yes"-I said grinning a bit despite the pain.

"Ok sure a deal it is"

"Alright then"-I said, starting to channel the very last facets of magic power I had left into a simple gravity spell.

"Gravity magic: Aspect: lighter" -as I felt the spell kick into effect the rock now started to move from the young boy pushing them off himself with ease almost like he barely needed my help.

The moment he was out my spell started to fade,my vision fading soon after, the last thing I saw before blacking out being that the you boy was actually taller than I thought looking closer to a teenager more than anything.

—-

….

….

…..

"Hey"

…..

"Hey wake up"

"Oh for the love of ... ." SMACK -The person telling me to wake up suddenly slapped me across my face instantly waking me up.

What I saw before me was certainly something I hadn't expected to be seeing again.

An infinite void stretching seemingly across every known fabric of spacetime and yet not having any semblance of structure, but at the same time I was half sitting in a bed inside of what I could only describe as a living room without a roof. If you looked out all you would see was the vast expanse of nothing.

And it was also something I remembered quite well, this area if you took away the room it was just like Crows memories!

But that can't be because those memories were not even real they were just a directive implanted into me, they shouldn't even exist now, I cast THING out !

"Just so you know I'm not a memory implant, or well I guess you could see it that way."-Someone suddenly said from the side of my bed.

I turned my head to where the voice came from. What I saw was a young man, perhaps just about his twenties, with long white hair flowing down his sides, he was wearing a pair of long black pants alongside a sleek dark purple turtleneck with jet black scleras.

"Wait you …you can't be.." -I said, stumbling on my words, simply amazed by what I was seeing.

"Yhep im Crow give or take about 12 years into the future"

"Ok …but ..I mean how, how are you here ?"

"Aa that well I suppose this will take a while but i'll explain it soon, come on it's time to meet the others" -He said rubbing the nape of his neck and walking towards the sofas.

I rose out of the bed making my way to where he was standing, suddenly a door opened just in front of us. Crow opened the door stepping into it.

What am I even going to see on the other side of this door? Maybe if I go back I can.. My thoughts stopped as soon as I turned around the room we were in was slowly eroding.

Deciding that I would rather take my chances with the door I made my way through it and was temporarily frozen by a blinding white light.

I was now in another room, this one seeming more like a kitchen but with crystals as building blocks.

"Ok mind explaining what is going on?" -I said scanning the room for Crow.

Instead of finding the white haired man I also spotted 3 more people in the room.

One was a young child, a girl perhaps around my age 10 perhaps 12, she had a shaved black haired head with fluorescent green eyes. She was wearing the same hospital gown I was when I broke out of the facility. She was hiding behind an older guy perhaps in his 50s or 60s, he was wearing a long doctor's coat with short silver hair and a beard.

To the side of them was Crow wearing the same outfit as before but now sporting a lighted cigarette as well.

To his left there was a man around his late 20s early 30s, with short styled red hair and a stubble. He was wearing a biker jacket and jeans leaving his abs in full display.

There was an awkward silence until the old man finally spoke up.

"Crow I know that we technically aren't alive but would you please mind putting out the cigarette!" He said pointedly

" Hell no, if I want to smoke,I'll smoke!"- Crow said flipping the old man the bird

" Umm,,,"-A chirpy voice piped up " Please mr Crow.. could you put that out it burns my nose"-The little girl said, covering her mouth.

"...Can't I have Anything nice?!"- Crow said defeatedly putting out his cigarette with the heal of his shoe looking downtrodden.

"Umm hello?" -I said instantly, turning the group's attention to me and the now disappearing door.

"Who are you guys? I recognise you Crow but the others I don't, but you also feel familiar like ive seen you before?"

"Aaa well that's where things get complicated, look we don't really have all day until you wake up again so let's get to it I suppose!" - Crow said, clapping his hands together.

"I'll start the introductions my name is doctor Logan Stardes, I was a highly acclaimed student during my time and I specialised in teaching magic theory more specifically gravity magic, however I regret to inform you that I was born without being able to use magic."

"Umm im Elsa, I am his granddaughter"-The little girl piped up from behind her apparent grandpa.

"The name is Eli I am what you would call a Eatherius, essentially you can think of me and my kind as living magic we are also called demons, my full name is Eatherius Legiunus Ivyre (Pronounced Ey've're) I wield what is called Curse a power removed from magic. My Curse power is the power of reality warping.

"And as you already know im Crow, but i'm also a former member of the dark guild Grimoire heart"-Crow said pulling down the side of his turtleneck to reveal what might be described as two curved spiked blades trying to form a heart.

"I am proficient in a few types of magic but I specialise in takeover spells"

"Elsa over here doesn't know it but she has quite the amount of magic energy"

"I do?"- The little girl said with twinkles in her eyes.

"You sure do little sprout"-The old man Logan said smiling down at his granddaughter

"Look, that's cool and all but.." I was cut of by Crow raising a hand

"Ok well that's good and all but I don't think you guys need to be here for the next part mind just leaving for a sec?

The others simply nodded And in the blink of an eye they were simply not there anymore.

"WOOOO Ok MIND EXPLAINING PLEASE I AM GOING NUTS HERE?" - I shouted to Crow desperate to get any form of an answer.

"Well simply put we are all you and you are us" Crow said standing from his chair

"What does that even mean!?"

"Sigh" "You remember the facility right?"

"Yes of course I do that damn place nearly broke me it was a miracle I even escaped, but speaking of that how are you even here I thought you were just a implanted personality"

"Sadly not i'm as real as anyone else"

"So then h…"

"Remember what I said about you being us?"- Crow said, raising his eyebrow and grinning smugly.

"Yes so what, like we are two people in one body or—-" "Wait ... .No they couldn't have, right?"-I said my terror apparent of my face

"Got it in one eh?" "As you probably guessed much like me the other people are real too, we were all experimented on and made into this, an amalgamation of magic,Curse, differing ages and bodies all coalesced into one being."

"So then the name merlin isn't my name?"-I said a uncomfortable ball of angst swelling in my throat

"Nope it is actually the name of the project, project MERLIN the idea of making the ultimate magic soldier, Hmph guess they were right and wrong"

"But I'm not strong, I can only actually accomplish anything with gravity magic!"

"That's because Logan was a master in his field seeing as he is a part of you, his knowledge of gravity magic transferred over" "Let my try to explain"

"In an attempt to save the life of his granddaughter doctor Logan was approached by a man calling himself brain"

"I don't know who that is, is that the scientist?..wait no I remember, or I don't? …what is going on? Why can't I remember?"

"And that leads us to the side effects, essentially since we are 5 in one our memories have been mumbled together, it's causing our memories to become yours and so on but it also scrambles them making all of it a weird amalgamation" - Crow said pausing for a moment to grab a cig and lighting it.

"And so in order to reverse it your brain is deleting parts it can't handle such as your former life and who we where, you will still remember a few parts but most of your pre gained knowledge is slowly going away by the time you wake it will all be complete and the amalgamation process will be complete."-Crow took a deep breath, then exhaled allowing the smoke to form tiny figures.

"This is us"-He said gesturing to the 4 smoke figures in the air.

"And then this will be you"-The puppets morphed into one being a smaller more detailed one with muscles, hair, eyes even showing my body's sign of malnutrition.

"So then you die and I live…? But that's not fair! You all had lifes and I'm just…something they made."

"The moment of the process starting we were already dead kid, you see this here is just memories nothing more so don't feel bad. Hell even that eatherius bastard is ok with it and he wanted to wipe out humans as a whole! But it seems like he is happy giving his power for a purpose…"

"But…"-I was interrupted by the world around me shaking the stark black void around us breaking to allow motes of light to slip in.

I was terrified and wanted to run, but when I looked at Crow all I saw was a look of acceptance. No defiance or fear in what was coming simply relife and the eyes of a man long since having accepted his fate.

"Seems like time is up huh.."-Crow said solemnly

"Kid, listen this is important, your magic is like you, an amalgamation of all us, you are simply thinking of it the wrong way."

"What do you mean?"-I asked hurriedly seeing more motes of light breaking through the pitch black nothing.

"Fantasia, it is a magic like no other. It works similarly to the Arc Of Embodiment allowing your imagination to take form, but it also allowing incarnations and you can even make techniques into your own, doesn't matter if they exist in this world or not, meaning that you can take your own memories and make them real. Like I said you won't remember me or your past life but there will still be motes for you to draw on, but you will simply perceive them as elaborate stories made up by yourself."

More light started to break through, spreading a blinding white around us, a stark contrast to our previous surroundings.

"Ok but I still don't understand who I am, what am I supposed to do!?"-I shouted desperately, shielding my eyes from the light.

"Does it matter?"-Crow said

"You are you, nobody else make your own name! Tell your own story! There is no one like you! If you want a family, get one! If you want to become the greatest ever then become the strongest! MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!" Crow said, spreading his arms out dramatically fading away under the piercing light.

The strongest? If I become strong then…this won't happen to anyone else, yes! That's my purpose to become the strongest so no one will have this happen to them" I thought turning my eyes to the whiteness definitely

"Watch out Brain, I'm coming even if I don't remember you when I wake, I swear upon my soul, I will become the strongest! So nobody will ever get hurt by you again!

The final crack broke filling the area with a pure blinding light.

Also is this a retcon for why my writing in the first chapters makes no sense?

….Yes yes it is.