"WHAT IS IT YOU DESIRE?"
The small, vile body of The Mutation eyed Theus from above these words. Deep within Theus' subconscious, whereas his real body and mind were incapacitated for the time being, he was brought face to face with the violet leech.
He never thought that the look of The Mutation could be so repulsive... yet alluring at the same time. He froze in fear at the sight of its gaping maw, bearing rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth that look as if it could mince apart anything.
With the question prompted to him, Theus' mind sparked, causing all sorts of ideas to pop up.
'What if I desired great fortune, both for me and my mother? Or even strength to help her out in this dump…"
Theus pondered for a while, until his mother's words filled the void of thought in his mind, repeating after her and her pleas, he said.
"I want to know the origin of everything. What caused Deceased Earth to be like this? What's the history behind The Messengers- no, screw that, what's the history behind it all? I've always been told to stay curious and that's what I want the most, the truth."
The Mutation stayed silent, for a while in fact. This period of silence went uninterrupted until The Mutation shivered, its worm-like body wriggling. Theus mistook this as The Mutation processing his wishes, and developing a Desire fit for him. Instead, The Mutation swam closer, as close as it possibly could in front of Theus' face. All Theus saw was the black, starless void that stretched eternally within The Mutation's mouth.
"ARE YOU CERTAIN?"
This was abnormal of it. Usually, The Mutation would process and regurgitate your Desire, hereby altering you into that of a superhuman with a strict set of powers akin to what you recited to it. It never asked if one had wanted a confirmation of their desire, it just fulfilled it, yet such was the case for Theus.
"Uh, yeah I am? Why? Did I say something wrong-"
As The Mutation swallowed Theus' subconscious self, a sharp, unimaginable pain coursed through his entire mind, causing his physical body to sprawl on the floor and spasm.
It felt like his brain was being ridden and rewired entirely, the intrusive Mutation sawing away at the depths of who he was. He felt he was becoming one with the true nature of The Mutation, and it left a searing, never-ending pain that persisted, driving him to the brink of insanity.
*****
Theus sporadically spasmed, falling out of the shoddy chair and onto the unpolished, stone flooring of the office.
Soteira, along with the doctor, were frozen, then jumped with utter horror.
"My baby! What the hell have you done?! This isn't normal!"
Soteira turned sharply towards the doctor, a panic stricken look on her face. The doctor himself rushed over, tossing aside all previous indifference he might have had.
"I don't know! This only happened once before with a different kid, I didn't handle it!"
Soteira, confused and agitated, looked at the doctor.
"I don't care, just save him!"
The doctor picked Theus up and strapped him to the chair, then stood still and did nothing more, holding his head in a frenzy.
"I-I can't interrupt his conscience while he's undergoing his Mutation! He'll become one of the Thoughtless!"
Soteira's eyes widened at the word. With her lips quivering, she rushed over and held Theus tight, not knowing what else to do.
"Oh, please! Let my Theus live the life he deserves!"
Her cries fell on deaf ears, or so she thought.
Theus, whose eyes had once reflected the light of his mother's sullen face, now reflected nothing.
*****
Deep within the confines of Theus' mind, a war was raging between two strong-willed spirits. One, the curious, innocent boy named Theus, and the other, the deep-rooted inquisitive nature of The Mutation.
Two similar personalities combined to form one of the same, constantly swirling and mixing together until they shared a similar mind. With this, The Mutation began dumping its vast knowledge into the feeble brain of Theus, then stopped.
What Theus saw for the half a second of information that The Mutation showered him with, was comparable to that of the intellect gained in a thousand years. The Mutation stopped the flow of thought as soon as possible, yet it had been too late.
Theus' brain was completely fried. Causing a hollow, lusterless look in his physical body's eyes. This, however, did not last for long, as The Mutation was slowly repairing his brain.
As Theus slowly awoke, he heard two voices, one being his mother, who had bittersweet joy written all over her face, and the other being The Mutation.
Theus, despite his care for his mother, solely focused on the voice in his head.
"YOUR RESULTS ARE READY."
Theus grew a smile on his face, then quickly suppressed it, hoping he didn't give the impression to his mother that he was actually braindead and couldn't control his emotions.
'Did I really have to go through all that pain? I mean, this better have given me something worth it.'
While hugging his mother to reassure her that he was okay, he prompted for his evaluation to be read out to him, his wonder taking over.
'What the hell…'
He saw a screen flash over his eyes, detailing the core information of his results. This typically read out your Desire and explained why you were given it, yet there had been an issue.
He couldn't make out more than half of it.
Alias: [Theus]
Database: [Not Installed]
Desire: [Desire for Concept]
Type: [Otherworldly Desire]
Reason: [A Pioneer's dying wish…]
When Theus continued to try and read his reason, it repeatedly deleted itself, making him all the more frustrated.
'Dammit! Damn secretive Mutation!'
Theus had to readdress everything that currently happened, mulling over the events in his own head.
His brain had died due to an overwhelming surplus of information flooding his mind, then was miraculously revived by the effects of The Mutation, with him losing all of the information in the process.
He had also received an, "Otherworldly Desire" something he had never heard when talking about with his mother. As far as he knew, there were three major types of Desires that The Mutation bestowed upon you, that being a Weak Desire, Strong Desire, or an Insurmountable Desire.
'Speaking of that, Desire for Concept? What, can I conceive now too? How useless!'
Theus himself had no clue what this Desire could entail, most Desires were clear in their abilities and could be found out almost immediately, yet not for him. He was also equally as agitated about the hidden reason.
'A Pioneer's dying wish? Pioneer of what?'
Just then, another memory that wasn't his had flashed in his mind, a name and a title.
Acolythorin, The Founder of Concept.