Chapter 83: Darkness.

(*Celia’s POV*)

As the tentacles dragged me into the temple, I was beyond confused. It wasn’t an attack. The tentacles held onto me as if I was its only lifeline. They just felt cold, rather than sticky and gross. Not to mention, it was carefully holding me.

After being dragged for a bit, the tentacles let me go. Now, I was in some kind of black temple. On the outside, the temple was white and looked radiant. But the instead was almost pitch black. It was clean and looked oddly peaceful. Like someone had painted an entire church pitch black… Ruina? Where the hell even am I?

Celia: “…”

No response… Not even Ria could talk to me. Was this not the same dimension? No… That wouldn’t explain why Ruina can’t talk to me. As I walked around the church, I was beyond spooked. The vibe of this place would rapidly switch from peaceful to downright dreadful. This effect was giving me a fuck ton of whiplash.

There was seemingly no end to this temple, as no matter how long I walked, it just kept going on and on. What is even this place? Now that I think about it, the Creator had a grim look on her face as I was being dragged away. Did I really mess up this time?…

*Hours Later.*

This place was absolutely endless! No matter what I tried, I couldn’t end the loop. I even tried to break down the walls, but I wasn’t strong to even leave a dent in them. Luckily, to ease my boredom, various pitch black creators would occasionally appear to attack me.

They were… well, they were absolute nightmare fuel, to say the least. I called them pitch black, but they were actually completely hellish. So hellish, that my mind changed how they looked to me. Otherwise, I would go insane…

Wait… Insane? Fuck… These are space horrors, right?… Which would explain why I feel like they would drive me insane. You know, stare into the void, and the void will stare back. That is the feeling that I am getting from the monsters, and this place. Before you ask, I have lost all connection to the System. I can’t even look at the Status of these things, let alone use my System…

Unknown Voice: “Who are you?” She asked.

I didn’t even notice someone approach me at all… Before me, was a young girl. Her hair was pitch black, and her eyes were a nice black color as well. Did she get trapped in here as well? Fuck no! She was clearly part of this weird situation…

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Celia: “My name is Celia. What’s yours?” I reply.

Nina: “My name is Nina.” She answered with a smile.

Celia: “So, Nina, do you know what this place is?” I ask with a curious tone.

Nina: “Prison.” She answered with a nonchalant tone.

Celia: “…What do you mean?” I ask.

Nina: “Hundreds of thousands of years ago, Mother and I were trapped in this place. I think that the people on the outside would call us, the Void? To survive, we need to consume dimensions.” She explained.

Huh? So, my dimension is next on their dining table? If so, why did I get sucked up into this place? As I was about to ask her something, I heard her stomach let out a complaint. Nina’s face was red, but I pretended not to notice her reaction and the sound of her stomach. Instead, I offered her up some food to eat.

Oddly, I seem to feed cute girls a lot these days… Was my purpose in reincarnating just to pamper cute girls? Not that I would mind. I am just curious. And if it was, that would be pretty funny.

Nina: “Thanks! It’s been about a thousand years since I last ate. The same goes for my mother.” She said with a happy smile.

Celia: “Where is your mother?” I ask with a curious tone.

Nina: “This place IS my mother, Celia. We’re sitting on her right now.” She replied with a giggle.

Celia: “…”

So this place is a living being? No wonder it felt so odd… But if this place is her mother, then how did such a thing even happen? Only a very powerful being could turn a person into a goddamn living building, after all…

Celia: “Nina, do you know why your mother kidnapped me? She seemed very desperate…” I ask.

Nina: “Guilt, I would say.” She answered with a shrug.

Celia: “…You’re way too vague, Nina…” I reply with a sigh.

Nina: “Look, how would you feel if you spent millions of years destroying and then eating dimensions, killing trillions of people, all just so you and your daughter wouldn’t starve to death?” She asked.

Celia: “Okay, I understand the guilt part. But what about her kidnapping me?” I ask once more.

Nina: “Hm? Ah, I don’t know. She didn’t tell me anything regarding it. I’ll ask her.” She replied.

Nina then closed her eyes, and I can only assume that she had a conversation with her mother. This went on for a long while, and Nina clearly got more and more upset as the conversation dragged on. Once she was done, Nina oddly gave me a hug and cried into my chest.

Celia: “Nina? What’s wrong?” I ask with a nervous tone.

Nina: “Stop talking! Please, I beg of you… Just let me cry for a while…” She said with an extremely distressed tone.

Celia: “…”

Something bad must have happened… As I am a mother myself, it wasn’t that big of an ask to let Nina cry on me. Mena has done it before as well. Nina continued to cry, all while I rubbed her head.

*Many Days Later.*

Nina didn’t let up on the crying for almost a week… How hurt was she by her mother’s words? What did she even say that would upset her this much? Nina looks like a child, but make no mistake, she is countless years old. What would cause a being this old to react like this? What’s worse, is that she seemed to go completely catatonic.

Unlike when this happened to Lia, Nina was even worse off. It was like she decided to close herself off from the rest of the world… All I could do was clean and feed her, all while the emotionless girl let me do as I pleased. At this point, I am starting to get very pissed off at Nina’s mother. What the fuck did she even say?…