Unexpected Place to Meet

> ”Tying one’s Destiny to a god is no small matter. Tying it to multiple gods… how could one be so greedy?” ~Evanclad Irista, First Monarch

Evanclad Irista awoke in the deep darkness. It reminded him of The Nothing. What an amusing name. Even in thought, he would not dare call that cursed place by its Prime Designation. Neither would he dare such a thing if he was still alive.

And yet here he was, an entity capable of thought and defying all meaning of death. The only problem was he couldn’t see anything. Debris shattered from somewhere rolled about every now and then. There was no indicator of up or down. His thought commanded where he walked, as if the physical response to move gave him the tangible feel of a body taking one step after another.

Where even was he? How long had it been?

The darkness gave way to light, sparkles of thousands of stars erupting into reality before him. Galaxies formed in ways and patterns incomprehensible even to his ancient mind as he plummeted through the cosmos.

Until he reached the body of a dead god. A ribcage of one, to be specific.

“A child of Brymeia?” echoed the colossal skeleton. Just a small section of it could be larger than a planet. “Return to your mother, child. We have no need for reconciliation.”

It wasn’t her fault. Evanclad’s adamant thoughts couldn’t echo out of his intangible form in the same intensity as the dead god’s.

“Of course not,” the god replied. He couldn’t remember its name or what Concept it stood for before it was reduced to this state. “That’s what they always say. We’re nothing but dispensable malformations of divinity, acting as though we had sway over Destiny.”

She had no choice.

“Foolish child!” The echo reverberated in anger, causing ripples through the cosmos. Stars dimmed and entities hiding within the void squealed to their deaths.

Evanclad felt his existence stretch to almost nothing. It took all of his will to remain existing.

“How can such an entity, one that is above divinity, be rid of a choice! You do not comprehend your own assumptions! It is beyond impossible for a—to have no choice!”

A what? Evanclad stopped himself before his thoughts surfaced.

“Away with you now, child. Before I change my mind and crush you.”

Brymeia will die without your help!

“Yes. She will.”

A great force pushed Evanclad away. Before he realized it, he was pulled away from the stars, and the scenery of dancing galaxies vanished before him.

The First Monarch found himself adrift in a broken realm. Apocalypse had descended upon these lands. Storms and volcanoes ravaged the landscape, leaving nothing but death and despair, and the lands amongst the skies were shattered one after the other. Nightmares roamed freely and no other lifeforms could be seen, save for two.

Evanclad found his daughter, the Second Monarch, Kristella Irista, in a duel to the death with Su’karix, the Thousand-Year Storm. He remembered exactly how this played out, except he didn’t know how it ended. He could never figure it out.

The ancient storm dragon weaved meiyal with the mastery of a Deitar, commanding clouds and living lightning to strike upon the young Monarch in a continuous barrage. The world shook as Su’karix breathed a beam of concentrated meiyal energy that could wipe out entire landscapes. She did not care for her own territory anymore. She had lost everything at this point.

Kristella had killed them all.

The Second Monarch of Irista Nation stood valiantly in the air. With her father’s glaive in hand, she met all the attacks with one masterful stroke.

Destiny itself loved the child.

From here, Evanclad’s memory had grown blurry. The Recollection had never fully materialized and his strained existence couldn’t reform the irreparable damage of his Mind Palace.

The Irista Mind Palace.

Evanclad Irista, the First Monarch after the Divine Severing, ventured in the nothingness of this place. He could feel the current heir struggling against their curse… their Blessing. He couldn’t find her. Destiny no longer wanted him to intervene.

But a new presence had made itself known. Hopefully, this one could listen.

----------------------------------------

Frein did not expect darkness to greet him.

“There’s nothing here,” he mused. Beside him was Elizzel looking confused as well.

“This can’t be a Mind Palace,” she said, crouching low and feeling the ground beneath. Black ash stained her hand which turned to viscous mucus or some sort of slime that slowly dripped away from her skin. “Gross,” she commented apathetically.

The sight of slime made Frein aware of the awkward stickiness of the ground. Disgusted, the faunel lifted herself up the Visitor’s shoulder and perched on it. She was weightless, but Frein could feel her soft bottom pressing against his shoulder whenever he took a step. He deduced it was wise not to mention anything, but their Tether made that almost impossible.

“You know, Katherine’s right about you, Frein,” she said while remaining vigilant of their surroundings. “Pervert.”

Still, Elizzel chose to sit on his shoulder rather than let her bare feet touch the slime.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Man has to man, you know?” Frein took one careful step after another. His eyes were alert and aware. Despite this, he wouldn’t let a single jape pass him by without retort. “Can’t really do anything about it. I should point out that you’re treating me, an actual human being, like a stool right now. The least you can do is let him appreciate your butt.”

“How old are you, honestly?”

“Way younger than you are.”

The faunel pondered sincerely and sighed. “Fair. Enjoy it, Visitor, but I’ll make the most out of the bargain.” She made herself comfortable and leaned her entire body on his head.

Frein ignored—tried to with great difficulty—the other soft parts that touched him. “Where the hell are we anyway?”

“It’s so dark, I can barely see anything,” they both said at the same time.

While Elizzel slumped and complained, Frein Drew his Mesiffera. He found traces of meiyal leading off somewhere into the darkness. Without much of a choice left, he followed them, one slimy, ashy step after another.

“You sure this is the right way?” Elizzel asked. “We can follow where it’s going, or maybe we’re supposed to go where it’s coming from.”

“You can see the meiyal?”

“I gain the same benefits when you Draw Meiyal Arts. It’s a Tether thing.”

“Sounds convenient.”

“Well, it is.”

“Either way, let’s just follow where it’s going for now.”

Their pace was incredibly slow, and not exactly because of the terrain. Vision impediment, especially when abrupt, simply made one hesitate more often than not. While Frein could see where the meiyal was flowing towards, it didn’t exactly shine light over his path.

Minutes soon felt like hours.

“Maybe we should try the other way?” Elizzel suggested again. She had repositioned herself multiple times over and had eventually ended up piggybacking over her host’s shoulders. “Stop feeling up my thigh, Frein.”

“Stop squeezing my head with them! And stop blocking my eyes.”

Bored, the faunel dangled herself over while using her legs to anchor herself, squeezing Frein’s head further with her shin.

“I just said—”

“Look behind you, Frein,” Elizzel interrupted, quickly springing back up to a more comfortable position.

Frein didn’t complain and turned, alert and ready to emphasize his Siffera. Still, he couldn’t see anything aside from the flow of meiyal. But he could definitely feel something.

“Who’s there?” he asked. “Kristel?”

“Kristel?” mused a voice. A man’s voice. It was deep and grumbly, as if it came from an ancient tree. “Interesting. An heir named after the Second Monarch.”

“I know that voice,” Elizzel said. “Is that you, Evanclad?”

“Elizzel!” the voice exclaimed. Frein felt the presence drift closer, dangerously close. “You look so much like my daughter. How have you been?”

The faunel bowed, bending in an awkward way given that her legs were locked in front of her. Frein felt a tug at their Tether. A conflict whether she should kneel on the ground or remain twisted as she was. He obliged her and dipped a knee into the dirt.

“Oh, please, you can’t even see where I am. Please, stand. I’m no longer Monarch.”

“Like ancestor, like descendant,” Frein commented as he stood.

“Oh? This Kristel doesn’t like formality either?” the voice asked. “Oh, and I was following you around. Figured you might have an idea where to go. Let’s walk and talk.”

Frein did as asked. “She respects it, but goes out of her way to tell people she doesn’t want it. Are you lost or something?”

“Not exactly. I just woke up,” Evanclad replied. “It’s difficult to explain. I assume you’re looking for the Mind Palace?”

Frein and Elizzel nodded to no one in particular.

“Technically, you’re in a Mind Palace,” Evanclad tried to explain. “One that is interconnected through the entire Irista bloodline. It doesn’t matter whether they were my biological descendants or they acquired the crown through other means, valiant or otherwise. The moment they ascend to the throne, they and their offspring will be tied to this…darkness.”

It was difficult to determine whether the voice was proud or disappointed.

“Is that why this place is like this? A bunch of Mind Palaces colliding on each other, so there’s just nothing left?” Frein asked. In his gut, it felt like the guess wasn’t half bad, but for some reason, he couldn’t see it being the right answer.

“Good guess, but no. Every Irista rightful would attest to you that this is the one and only Mind Palace they all see after they wear the crown. Just a complete nothing. At least, at first.” The voice mused and grew distant for a moment before the presence returned. “But there is a Palace somewhere. We just have to find it.”

“You didn’t answer my question, though,” Frein complained. He continued to walk as instructed, but it was getting too tedious even with the First Monarch’s presence for a company.

Elizzel had grown completely bored and began playing with his hair. Her legs dangled on either side of him, distracting his already limited view. So, he chomped on the right one, sinking his teeth on her flesh just enough so that it would hurt but not bleed.

“Ow!”

“I said don’t block my view.”

“Are you two sexually engaged?” Evanclad asked before Elizzel could complain further.

“N—”

“Not going to answer until you answer mine, First Monarch,” Frein interrupted. He grabbed the faunels thighs and propped her steadily on his shoulders. Her crotch pressed gently on his nape.

“Fair. I’d rather be called Evanclad, though.”

“Please stop beating around the bush and answer the goddamned question, Evanclad.”

“Yeesh. Okay, okay. You’re one feisty Visitor. I’ve never actually met one before—”

“Stop putting on layers and tell me why this place is like this!”

Evanclad made a deep, audible, intangible sigh. “This is a result of a broken Destiny. I made a deal, you see. One that allowed me to defeat a mighty foe.”

“Zerax’thum?” Frein guessed.

“The one and only. Zerax’thum was a god too powerful for Brymeia to hold. No… Zerax’thum was beyond a god. He was a—” A garbled distortion interrupted Evanclad. “I really can’t say it, huh…”

“You can’t say what Zerax’thum is?”

“Apparently not. Destiny interferes. It suppresses any information they don’t want disseminated.”

“Like the Forgotten Deities? And the true purpose of a Visitor?”

“You’re a smart fellow, aren’t you? Elizzel’s pretty lucky to have you as her lovemate.”

“We’re not sexually engaged,” Frein and Elizzel replied at the same time.

“Well, unless you’re in love with someone else, Frein—and yes, I heard Elizzel mention your name—I’d say the longer the two of you remain Tethered, the more likely you two would hit it off.”

Frein almost stopped in his tracks. “I’m in love with someone else, though.”

“He’s in love with someone else, though,” Elizzel said at the same time.

The two stopped completely this time. Once was a fluke, but they had been in sync for far too many times now.

“That’s the Tether at work, see.” Evanclad’s voice couldn’t hide his smugness. “I guess Elizzel here would forget, but a Faunel Tether works with the same principles as tying your Destinies together. You two will become so incredibly inseparable that you either fall for each other or you both fall in love with someone lucky.”

“You mean, she’ll fall in love with Katherine?”

“You mean, I’ll fall in love with Katherine?”

“This is getting a little tedious for my ears, even though I don’t have any.” Evanclad sighed. “And the answer is yes.”

Frein stood for a good long minute thinking what to take from it. What he wanted to know was if Elizzel knew this would happen. Their ever reliable Tether made it clear that she was also unaware. Even Evanclad said it.

“I’m not sure if I mind,” Frein said, finally. “I’m not sure if Katherine minds.”

His thoughts raced and jumped to various scenarios and what-ifs. For one, Frein was sure that he would sever the Tether immediately if Katherine was against it. Even Elizzel moved for that decision.

But what if she agrees? They both thought at the same time.

And there was one more important question.

“What happens when I die?” He arched his neck upwards to look at the small faunel riding his shoulders. “You’ll forget about me.”

“Yes, but I won’t forget about her.” Elizzel smiled as she tapped her fingers on Frein’s cheeks. “I can’t promise you anything yet, though. So don’t go assuming things. Katherine and I are just friends.”

Frein found comfort in that. He turned his attention back on the dark road and followed the flow of meiyal once again.

“You know, Evanclad,” he started, “you’re pretty good at deflecting questions, aren’t you? If you don’t want to tell me the full story why this place is broken, I won’t force you.”

“Oh, no, you misunderstand, Frein,” Evanclad replied. His voice was distant, but hurriedly followed along. His intangible, invisible presence moved closer as well. “I just haven’t talked to anybody in a long time… A very, very, very, very long time.”

“You sure that’s enough ‘very’?”

“Very, very, very…”

----------------------------------------