76- Fairy Tale

Once, there was a man. He was born a frail and ill, but innocent child. But the world was no kind place, especially in those times. A father who was no father, a deranged mother, and claws that shed one’s own blood.

Then, that man was no child anymore. And like with any other man, there was a woman. A first, hair like fire, smile brighter than the sun. A childhood sweetheart. But an old enemy surfaced, and the claws once more came out.

But that man was special, in more ways than one. Perhaps it was to make up for all the hurt that man received, or perhaps it was a twisted joke from some higher being who liked to see this man suffer, but he became capable of healing any injuries he received. Physical wounds, of course, but also psychic ones.

So, he started to forget. His first name, his first love, his first enemy. But his life did not stop because of it. For a time, he lived with wolves, but those too he lost, and the pack was no more.

And so, the pattern repeated itself over the years. New love, new friends, new family, new enemies, new tragedies. Only one constant started appearing, and that was a man more beast than man who decided to haunt him for all his unending life.

One thing that did change with the latest cycles, though, was that the man started meeting people like him. Unusual people. Freaks. People who were not people. Humans who were not humans.

And that man may be no man in the eyes of other men, but he still became part of the conflicts of man, and was met face to face with their greatest weapon. He survived that too.

So, mankind decided to turn him into their new greatest weapon, an indestructible force capable of cutting down anything standing in its path. They were successful, at least in creating their indestructible weapon, even if the weapon escaped.

It was then that the man become weapon found his latest family. A school, full of people like him, people not treated as people. The weapon turned man once more, then teacher, then X-Man.

And like all things in his life, that too faded away. When his family was whisked away in time itself, he found himself left behind for no other reason than bad luck, and he returned to wandering the world.

The difference this time was that he still had hope. So, he found love again. She was a warrior like him, but with the gentlest soul he had ever met. A soul so gentle it tranquilized the beast within him, blunted the weapon, and allowed the man to live.

That was until the demon. The weapon become man was not the only one of his kind to have escaped the fate of his people, though he no longer preoccupied himself with these matters. But one day, the woman he loved was murdered in secret, her body profaned to house the warped mind of a survivor from his old family. A mind capable of controlling the man.

And so the man once more became a weapon. While trapped in his own mind, living in illusions of his own making, the man became the weapon for a demon this time. In his heart of hearts, he knew there was something wrong, but the real world hurt far too much for him to willingly come out.

The pattern refused to break. The man may have refused to leave his own mind, but the sun could reach all places, and it forced the man to come out.

But it was not just the man that came out, there was also the beast.

Man, beast and weapon became one, and faced the sun that took away the woman he loved. But man could hardly look at the sun without hurting himself, and while this man was capable of healing any hurt, he still failed to bring down the sun.

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The beast was nothing if not tenacious however, and once it got back on its feet, it left to seek out vengeance. That was when he came upon a most important piece of news.

His family had somehow returned.

---

Mason’s journey started with Asia, where he found the strongest concentration of powerful martial artists. This was the birthplace of martial arts, with the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven. Although they had retreated to their pocket dimensions a long time ago, there had always been members coming in and out of them, spreading knowledge.

This was even more so the case recently, as following Mason’s order, all of them returned fully to the ‘mortal world’, spreading their teachings and influence. The pocket dimensions still existed, and according to what Mason heard in his travels, the precious treasures and main inheritances were still kept there, but this was already a first, big step towards the spreading of martial arts.

Through his travels, Mason deliberately avoided big cities, preferring small towns or even villages, feeling they would be more receptive to the Dao. Moreover, Mason felt that he could do more good there, healing people, helping with crops, that sort of thing.

This was another effect Mason found to his Chi, which he should have guessed in hindsight, but it was not only beneficial to people, but also to plants. Every place he visited was thus lush with vitality.

Some martial artists had taken it upon themselves to follow him, to assist as many lessons as they could, but even those gradually stopped once they learned everything they could. Some of them did not even reach him, though, as Mason left plenty of traces all over about his martial arts path as a whole.

In most towns, Mason simply told the villagers orally, and in others, he wrote it down. Then, of course, once he got some internet, he also added tutorials online. They did not necessarily go in depth, but they explained enough for someone to get on the path.

For the major roadblock, that is, the Awakening Realm, they would still have to be guided by another Awakening Realm expert, but again, Mason’s goal was for them to multiply. He had shown the way to several peak Body Refinement Realm experts at the beginning of his travels already.

Through these travels, Mason not only got to spread the Dao, but he also discovered for himself the effects his actions had on the world. By forcefully closing the Eighth City, Mason had also opened gateways to demonic and divine realms all over the world.

The damage had been largely controlled by Kamar-Taj, as well as those various gods who had been forced back on Earth. It was actually the return of those gods that had caused the most commotion.

When Mason first took over, this world had reached a certain state of stasis. Most mutants had completely disappeared, mysteriously trapped in the Spacetime Continuum; sorcerers had long been in hiding, and the heroes of yore like Captain America were closer to legends than history. People knew they had existed, of course, but for regular people, superpowers were far out of the ordinary.

It was only recently that a few names emerged, like the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Mason himself as Solis, and the Hulk. Still, they remained far out of the ordinary.

So to have people claiming to be gods appear? It had definitely been a shock. Most of them remained reclusive, even with their temporary eviction to Earth, but some had appeared during their demon quelling, resulting in quite the phenomenon worldwide. Not necessarily bad per se, but noticeable.

Then, there was the return of the mutants. Even from as far as Asia, in little mountain villages, Mason had heard about the return of the legendary X-Men.

Mutants might have been a sensitive subject worldwide for decades, but the X-Men had long been recognized as a hero team before their mysterious disappearance. So their return had been noteworthy indeed.

The advent of gods and mutants came with its fair share of troubles, but those were more social problems than physical ones. The anti-mutant sentiment had reached a fever pitch in the 70s, in the time of the X-Men, because of the Civil Rights Movement from the 60s.

Much like in Mason’s old world, the movement had been mainly aimed at racial differences between whites and blacks, but in this world, they could hardly have ignored the plight of mutants beside them.

The history lessons Mason had experienced in this body’s childhood had left it rather inconclusive about whether the movement truly cared about mutants or simply felt forced to include them, in a similar manner to women’s rights, but the fact of the matter was that mutant rights had improved, which paradoxically brought an even harsher suppression later.

Well, it sounded paradoxical, but it was not really. Although mutant rights had been included in the Civil Rights, it was only a minor addition at the end of the day. When the movement was strong, it was easier to accept them. But once the movement ‘died out’, its main mission accomplished, mutants became easy targets.

The problem was that the matter had not been properly resolved, because of the mass disappearance of mutants at the time. Although a few mutants had remained, they were rare enough to basically disappear from the public’s eye. For the most part, what had been a nation-wide problem, or even an international one, had suddenly disappeared, which did not erase the sentiment, only froze it in time.

For now, from what Mason could see, the general feeling towards mutants remained rather tame, mainly because of all the people who suddenly reappeared after decades lost in time. Anti-mutant politicians liked to forget that fact, but mutants were all born human, and for the most part had human families.

Whatever had sent mutants into the Spacetime Continuum, it had not just taken the important or realized ones, it had also taken plenty of children who did not know, who hid their natures, or who simply tried to live their lives as normal.

How things would develop from here, only time would tell.