Atticus’s Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Before Atticus could react, his body was pulled forward, dragged toward the tree by an insane, invisible force.

'Ozeroth!' Atticus thundered in his thoughts, and Ozeroth's panicked voice came the next instant.

'Bond! You're being pulled to the tree forcibly! I'm still trying to find out if it's the same as last time!'

Atticus's expression darkened completely. The last time this happened, he had been trapped inside a world while his loved ones battled for their lives, with him watching every second. It was a thought that made his heart chill and his mind panic.

He never wanted to feel that way again. He never wanted to feel that powerless. The Aegis Shield was seconds, at best, from crumbling. When it did, the human domain would be left bare. Open.

If he were to be trapped once more… Atticus shuddered at the thought.

No matter what, he couldn't let that happen.

His mind raced faster than it ever had as he tried to understand what was going on.

He hadn't touched Eletantron, and neither did Ozeroth with Jezenet, so didn't that mean that its effects shouldn't be absolute?

'But I can't escape.'

No matter how much he tried, how much he struggled, he couldn't even resist the pull. So what was happening? Had Whisker's information been wrong?

Atticus's mind chilled at the thought.

'Did he plan everything?'

It would make sense as to why this was happening. Whisker had planned all of this from the beginning, colliding with the Gardener to bring him down.

'What if he's the Gardener?' A wave of dread rippled through Atticus. Its implications would be too much to handle. It would mean that Whisker had planned everything from the start. He had tricked him from the very beginning.

Had everything been a lie?

"Atticus!"

As the panicked voices of Avalon and Magnus tore through the air, Atticus's mind froze.

He forced everything to a stop. He couldn't let his thoughts spiral. Their screams had just reminded him of what truly mattered right now.

It wasn't about figuring out who was behind this.

It was about making sure he didn't end up trapped like last time.

'Think. Think.'

He refocused, forcing his mind to cut through the haze and piece everything together. He laid it all bare, and came to one conclusion.

The last time something like this had happened… it had been with Lucas.

He had touched the boy, trying to knock him out. And right before Lucas fell unconscious, he had mumbled something, words Atticus still remembered.

But this was different. Eletantron and Jezenet… they hadn't even been given a chance to speak.

Even if they could manipulate life force, they hadn't been granted the opportunity to use it.

Which brought him to the core of the confusion and conclusion. This wasn't the same as before.

Eletantron and Jezenet hadn't willingly sacrificed themselves. They had died. He and Ozeroth had killed them.

So how in the world was their life force still being used?

Ozeroth's voice suddenly cut through his thoughts.

'Just because they didn't sacrifice themselves doesn't mean their life force couldn't be used.'

Atticus's thoughts sharpened as the realization struck them both at once.

A trap!

'Of course…'

It was all starting to make sense. The seed that had formed when their life forces fused, he should have known.

He had always wondered why the Gardener sent Eletantron and Jezenet to fight him.

From what Whisker told him, the man was a planner. A man who calculated everything. His goals were the cores, and those two had six of them.

If they died, and the cores fell into Atticus's hands, it would've been a huge loss.

The Gardener wouldn't have taken such a gamble. He wasn't the type.

Unless…

Unless it was his plan all along.

'It had always been a trap.'

The Gardener had planned to achieve everything in one move.

Using the deaths of Jezenet and Eletantron to trap him. And in doing so, claim all the cores.

The six they carried… and the five in Atticus's possession.

Which meant…

'He's coming.'

The Gardener was on his way here. And he'd arrive the moment the trap was activated.

'After I get trapped.'

The stakes had just skyrocketed. The Gardener arriving here meant only one thing, without the Aegis Shield, humanity was doomed.

If he was trapped for even a second… he didn't even want to imagine the consequences.

Atticus's mind shifted gears.

'The middle planes…'

Now that he was sure the Gardener was behind this, he called upon everything he knew. Everything Whisker had told him…

And then, like a bulb exploding in their minds, both Atticus and Ozeroth's thoughts screamed in unison:

'Will!'

Whisker had confirmed it. Will was the source of power in the middle planes. Which meant, anything the Gardener had done… was likely tied to that.

And with that fact slamming into his brain, Atticus's thoughts raced back to the battle with Eletantron and Jezenet.

They had been careful not to make physical contact…

But not their wills.

Their wills had clashed. Fiercely.

Will was the essence of a person. Their identity. Their soul.

It was him.

Which meant… he had made contact.

But rather than feeling horror, Atticus felt… relieved.

The last time with Lucas, his body had touched him, and had gotten trapped inside the orb as a result.

But now, it wasn't his body that made contact.

It was his will.

Which meant… it was his will that was being pulled.

The paragons of humanity, along with every human across the domain, watched with bated breath as their Apex was dragged toward the massive tree, unable to stop himself.

Avalon's aura exploded. Searing heat surged outward, engulfing the area around him.

His voice boomed.

"Open the shield now! We have to help him!"

Thunder cracked as Magnus released his aura in full, his fierce gaze locked onto the struggling Atticus, as though he could tear through the barrier by sheer will.

But Oberon's voice cut through.

"Don't be rash."

Avalon turned, his face filled with anger.

"Rash!? Are we supposed to just watch while this happens!? After everything he has do—"

"I'll rephrase," Oberon interrupted coldly, "You're weak. We all are."

"If Atticus, of all people, is being pulled in without resistance, what do you think you can do?"

Avalon's mouth opened, then closed.

"But we can't—"

"You'll only distract him," Oberon snapped. "And if you know your son, truly… then you know his brain is his most dangerous weapon. He doesn't need your help. He needs focus."

"Let. Him. Think."