***
The one and only floated once more, allowed a moment from his chains.
His form shimmered high above the crowd, or whatever one'd call this lump of kneeling bodies.
They were all so quiet now.
Not out of reverence, but exhaustion.
Malik, while not used to such silence, didn't look at them long.
He didn't need to, nor want to.
This respect of theirs?
He didn't want it. Didn't care for it.
None of them could ever understand what he had just gone through.
What he was taught. Instilled in his very being. His Essence.
They might sympathize, empathize, or the like, but...
That was it. They could do nothing more.
And Malik didn't expect them to.
Not at all.
He knew himself to be unique.
One in a googolplex.
No one was like him.
No one suffered like he did.
Especially not after what had just passed.
This last lesson… it was the hardest one. No debate.
His earlier words were the truth.
Malik had no clue how he pulled it off all those years ago.
