John remained on his knees for several minutes, the painful memories that had surfaced had become fresh, as if they hadn’t faded away with the passage of time. Jaina held him from behind, and Uther kept his hand on his shoulder, neither saying anything but offering their support while John collected his thoughts. 

He had never owned a horse in his previous life, but now, somehow, he knew he had. He had never sworn an oath to become a holy knight before, but now he had. He had married his childhood sweetheart in his last life, and now, he did and didn’t? It was confusing. 

More memories began to flood into his mind, of different events in the prince’s life, some monumental, some trivial. They melded with his own memories, not clashing with but complementing what he already knew. 

He knew he was a family man of now 84 years of age, a man who lived a full life and died heroically by pushing two kids out of the way of a truck. He knew he had been brought to this strange place called DEN and was being sent to these different worlds to change their stories to entertain the gods of the Omni.  

That hadn’t changed, but now he was more. He was also this prince, a man in his twenties, who was destined to rule this kingdom in the future. He was raised to follow the virtues of respect, tenacity, and compassion, The Tenets of the Light. This was more than the normal information he was given when he entered these worlds, more detailed, more complete. He had people he called friends in this world, ones who helped build him into the man he was today. He also had antagonists here, not really enemies, but people who would be happy to see him fail. 

He was the crown prince of this nation. He was an old man who was incredibly lucky to have the chance to live again. Two separate realities were merging into one, clouding his mind, nearly to the point where he couldn’t make out one from the other.

“Listen, I… need some time… my mind is confused right now. But, I need to pass on my visions first.” He said through gritted teeth. Despite the situation, he wanted to pass on his visions to Uther, so at least someone else was aware of the impending disaster heading to this world. 

“Sure, Lad. Go ahead.” The old paladin replied, squeezing his shoulder a little. It was an odd dichotomy for John, he felt simultaneously both older and younger than this man, but he did appreciate the show of support. 

John laid out the visions to the pair of listeners. The desolate landscape, the army of demons waiting by a massive gate. About the giant demon that seemed able to sense him, even though it was just a vision. Then he passed on the more recent visions from that morning, of the destruction of those three cities, and the feelings of significance that red tome gave him. He omitted the part of the patricide, his jumbled mind not willing to believe that he would willingly serve the undead and take part in the slaughter of his home.

That was not who John was, and even these fevered visions would not make him think that would change. 

“By the Light. Are you sure? Are these visions real?” Uther asked when he finished. John couldn’t see his face at that moment, but he could hear the concern in his voice.

“No. I have no idea. I don’t even know if these are visions, for all I know, they are fever dreams, hallucinations. But if they came to pass without me trying to give a warning, I would never be able to forgive myself for the damage I could have tried to prevent.” John replied, his voice becoming less strained. He was starting to feel almost like his old self again, the new memories from the prince beginning to fade like his original memories of his past, yet the sense of duality remained. 

Is… is this what dementia feels like when you are aware of it?

That thought terrified him.

“Uther, I think his visions might be true,” Jaina said, still clinging to him from behind. “Listen, before Antonidas and I came out to check on John, we were visited by a man calling himself a prophet. He told us the end was coming, that if we tried to stand against it as we are, we would fail. He said we needed to sail for Kalimdor if we wanted a chance to survive the coming darkness.”

What?

“And what did your mentor say about these claims?” Uther asked, though he was sure he knew exactly what the old archmage would say.

“He dismissed them, called them the ramblings of a madman. But, if John is having visions as well, there might be some truth to what he claimed.” Jaina said. She hugged him even tighter and rested her head on his shoulder. “John, can you remember anything else from these visions, anything at all?”

He went through his memories again, the visions clear despite the turmoil in his mind. “Well, there was an elf stabbed with a wicked looking blade. Dark magics were pushed into her, causing her to scream in anguish, as if it was frying her very soul. A wraith stepped out of her body afterwards, but the vision shifted before I saw anything else.”

“Do you remember what she looked like?”

“Blonde hair, pale blue eyes that seemed to glow, lithe body. She was wearing blue and silver armour with green gemstones inlayed in it. The armour seemed to… wait, it was Sylvanas! I just remembered! I met her once when I was a boy!” John replied, his new memories bringing a name to the elven beauty’s face. Her armour was rather scant in his vision, exposing more skin than it covered.

These memories were disconcerting, though they were coming in useful right now. She had been kind to him during his visit to Quel’Thalas, at least compared to the majority of the elves he had met. It seemed that many elves in this world had a disdain for other races.

Reminds me of the attitude the human supremacist in The Great Cleric had for the beastfolk. 

“Here, let me get up,” John said. Now that he got his piece out, he wanted to be alone for a bit. He needed time to get his thoughts back in a semblance of order before he talked with anyone. He needed to make sure he was still, well, still him. 

“Sure, Lad. Whatever you need. Take the day for yourself. We will be marching for Stratholme in the morning.” Uther said, his powerful hand finally releasing John’s shoulder.

Jaina held onto him for a few more moments, reluctantly releasing him from her embrace only once Uther touched her shoulder.

“Alright. I will be there.” John said, standing up. His legs were still weak, but he felt steady enough to walk again. “Thank you both for listening to me, this has been-” 

Weird? Painful? Terrifying?

“-been weighing my mind down. Excuse me.”

With that, John left the platform, leaving Uther and Jaina behind. Neither of them was sure of what to make of what happened to John. 

Did he have a divine revelation? Had the Fel seeped deeper into his blood than they originally thought, turning him mad? Neither of them knew, but with the scourge threatening the land, they were open to the possibility that The Light was indeed providing John with the knowledge he needed to aid them in these dire times. 

Somewhere in Northern Lordaeron

Pelican Cockpit

John laid down a burst of autocannon fire, mowing down another group of scourge troops while he was out patrolling. He had ranged far away from Hearthglen, the Pelican the only place he could find to be alone with his thoughts. 

After the meeting, he walked around the town for a bit, trying to find something to distract himself with. However, everywhere he went, he was swarmed with townsfolk thanking him for saving them yesterday. So he had retreated to the keep to lie down instead, but he quickly became restless, unable to shut his brain off from overthinking. His mind kept circling back to the meeting.

He couldn’t believe how quickly they accepted his tale, yet still believed he was the prince. Sure, he did have a lot of inexplicable powers and tools, but he expected more skepticism. He thought he would have had to fight to make them believe him, somehow prove that he was no longer their prince, but then the memories came. Fresh, like they were just made, the emotions associated smashed into him like a brick to the face. That made Uther believe the prince was still inside John’s mind, still part of the man standing before him, and for a time, John wondered if that was true as well. 

He decided he needed to get out for a bit, so he hopped in the Pelican after sending Eh and his escort away and took off to hunt some undead. Sitting behind the controls of the Pelican felt cathartic, the simplicity of flying calming his nerves and soothing his soul. He found many scattered groups of the undead moving around, so he popped a Substance X pill and began to mow them down, his new powers growing slightly with each pull of the trigger. 

As the sun began to set, he was about to turn back to Hearthglen when he noticed the two moons rising on the horizon. One was white and appeared larger than the smaller blue moon. On an idle whim, he pulled back on the yoke, pointing the nose of his ship upward for atmospheric ascent. John wanted to see these moons up close, he was curious to know if the white one was actually the larger one or if the blue one was larger but just farther away.

In truth, he wasn’t ready to return to the town yet, as he still hadn’t decided how he would handle Jaina if she continued her advances.

Logically, he knew the memories were not his, but they felt as real now as the ones he had with Nanaella, Shizuka, Tanya, Niki, Chris, Ash, and Xiaolin. It was as real to him as the memories of his deceased wife. He had no idea why DEN did this to him, but he would have questions when he chose to return. 

Though he wasn’t doing that now, not when he discovered that his goal was already so close. He was a paladin now, and high level paladins have resurrection magic. He knew that now, his new memories confirming that it was true. He just needed to stay here long enough to get the magic, then open the rest of the doors for DEN. After that, he could return to… he wasn’t sure which he would try it on first. That was a decision for another day.

Once the Pelican’s nose was at a sufficient elevation, he slammed the throttles forward, driving his body into the back of his seat. Unlike the Phoenix Hawk, the Pelican didn’t have an inertia stabilizer, so he felt the full force of the acceleration as the ship rocketed upward, reaching escape velocity quickly. 

A loud crash sounded behind him as the engines roared, but he was unable to turn around to see what it was, his body feeling many times its normal weight just then. Whatever it was would have to wait until the ship exited the atmosphere. He thought he heard a loud screaming noise behind him, but it sounded-

He activated his Scouter Skill.

WHAT IN THE LIGHT IS HAPPENING!?!?! JOHN, WHERE ARE YOU TAKING US!?!?!?!

Hun?

Outside of the Universe

Xe’ra was troubled as she watched Azeroth from afar. The Naaru floated in that void of power outside of the universe, The Light itself, thinking of what she should do. She had been fighting against the Burning Legion for millennia, ever since she was forged during the creation of the cosmos. She was known as The Light Mother, the Prime Naaru, and was the leader of the Forces of the Light.

She had been watching the beings in Azeroth, searching for someone who could be the Champion of the Forces of the Light against the Burning Legion. Once again, the demons were poised to invade the planet, and the people were woefully unprepared to weather yet another assault so soon after the last one. The Alliance, once the most powerful force on that world, were now fractured, the nations turning secular as the threat of the Burning Legion seemed to be behind them. 

That couldn’t be further from the truth. 

She had a prophecy that the one known as Illidan Stormrage was ‘The Child of Light and Shadow’ and could be the champion she sought to unite the forces of light to fight against Archimonde and his legions. She hesitated, though, because that being had been imprisoned by his fellow Night Elves for the last 10000 years, his heart tainted with hatred.

So she continued to search, wanting to see if perhaps her prophecy was incorrect, that there might be another that could unite the forces of Azeroth to defeat the Burning Legion. So far, her other options have proven lacklustre.

That orc would be great, but there is too much distrust for the others to rally behind him. That archmage is too blind by reality to see the truth. That human paladin has too much bias against the orcs. That dwarf might have worked, but he will not survive. That elven ranger, maybe, but her people see her as a disgrace. 

She looked through the leaders and prominent personalities of Azeroth one by one, judging them by a standard only she knew the criteria for. She kept returning to Illidan Stormrage, sighing as he seemed to be the only one to possess- 

Wait a minute? What is that? 

She watched a vessel of some sort depart from the planet’s surface and begin moving into outer space, heading towards one of the moons orbiting that world. She floated in The Light, stunned at the sight. No one on Azeroth had the technology able to do that, not even close. She focused on the vessel, looking into the cockpit, wanting to know who could have such a marvellous invention. A man with white hair and a missing eye sat at the ship’s controls. Behind him, lying on the deck, was a mage she had considered to become her champion but discarded due to her naivety. She was too ‘good’ to be a Champion of the Light. 

The man interested her for a moment, then when she reached out with her magic, she was rebuffed by something powerful. That, that had only happened to her once before, when a god from another universe had stopped by to visit. She sighed. Apparently, the DEN gods had decided that her universe was the one they were choosing to play in this day. And all the gods of Azeroth were asleep, enfeebled, or otherwise indisposed to deal with them. 

Still, she decided to watch him for a while. If he were one of the people they sent to other universes for their show, he might be a candidate to replace Illidan as her champion. Time was short, but there was still more than enough to assess him before she had to commit to a course of action. 

She sighed. She really hoped he proved to be a better option than Illidan, she didn’t have a good feeling about that Night Elf. 

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