"I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light."
― Helen Keller
Vertigo assaulted Ven, a tumbled spin of the eyes that worsened over time. He watched himself watch himself, vision locked to his own gaze through the eyes of his transformed Giant. He drew in a slow, steady breath, focused on the connection between them.
“You’re kind of an empty book…” Ven rallied his willpower and forced his consciousness back to a single perspective. The Giant’s mind was filled with memories of Min and the system star, with a few key moments that included Ven. “What am I supposed to do with you now?”
“I want Min…” Giant looked around, still on the hunt for the source of the delicious scent. “You’re no fun, always bossing me…”
Ven rolled his eyes and flicked the Giant’s nose. The beast had gained even more awareness, no longer just an intelligent animal. The connection between them was wide open, louder than any other voice in his mind. Even the choir of faith was muted in comparison. It was both an annoyance, and an opportunity.
“If you want to find Min, follow me,” Ven dragged the childish Giant into the sky. A single step carried them to Avalon, before the labyrinth gate. A flick of his fingers sent a simple, silver ring into the Giant's grasp. “Take this ring, it can hide your appearance. Min is through there…”
Before his words finished, the Giant slipped the ring onto his finger and leapt through the gate. Ven let a smile play on his lips as he let his perspective shift to the Giant’s eyes. It had worked. Whatever the Giant was, it could exist outside his realm, unlike his avatar.
“Now I have a real set of eyes in the labyrinth, and that idiot is outside the realm,” The formation within the Giant was still developing. Even with their connection, instinct told him it was best finished outside. “The scripture inside Dante is far less complicated, but maybe I should toss him out as well…”
“He should be safe to keep where he is,” a soft, resonant voice chuckled from behind Ven. “I am a bit disappointed you ran straight to Min, when you needed help with runic knowledge!”
“Ooulin!” Ven spun around and embraced the giant turtle. Yet another who could blend with the world well enough that Ven could never find him. “Sorry, old friend, but you’re harder to track down!”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“I have been within the star, studying Dante’s condition,” Ooulin smiled as Ven broke their embrace. “He is safe, but better left locked up… the formation in his body is a living thing,” Oouln shook his head and waved to the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life. “The will of an ancient multiverse, deeply connected to these two trees.”
“I know, but the formations are too complex, fluid…” Ven shrugged. Even with his eyes of truth, their ultimate purpose evaded him. “I’ll leave Dante for now, but he’s out the door if the scripture inside him starts to change.”
The oversized turtle nodded and followed Ven through a summoned gate. They stepped onto the warmth of the system star, where Ven laid back amongst the flame. The pair relaxed and drew in the restorative light, silent as they gazed at the many Earths above.
Huan waited on one of those planets, her and the ‘children’ she’d claimed as their own. He needed to find Cain, or this tour would take far longer than his mind could handle. Ven let his perception return to the Giant. The beast was still in the abyss, focused on the consumption of the ever present black flame.
‘Go north, big guy…’ Ven sent an impulse through their connection, a drive to move northward, toward the gate to the lower levels. ‘The food only gets better, the deeper we go!’
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“What is it?” Cain squinted at Brull’s face, hand raised to wave before the cat-kin’s face. “We need to keep moving, we’re still a good way from the gate.”
Brull shook his head, hand on the sword at his belt. The far distance of his perception was muddled. A uniform haze that danced away and followed behind, just beyond detection. A deep breath and Excalibur slipped from its sheath.
“I’ll be right back…” a slash and a step carried him toward the gate, three more and he was forced to stop. A luminous green fog blocked his path, wrapped around the distant gateway to the Abyss. “Danger…” Brull narrowed his eyes and squinted at the dim-lit mist. “But what is it?”
It read as a diffused lifeforce, something Brull normally associated with things like clustered fish, or birds. He gave a small swing of his sword, a burst of sword light that passed through the misty water without effect. Unlike the tentacles of the now dead sea-dragon, this fog slowly approached and didn’t flee to lure him forward.
“Living creatures…” Lucifer appeared in a burst of midnight flame and squinted in disgust. Brull could see the farthest, but the fallen angel had a more detailed view of the world. “The most primitive of life, but united into some kind of predator.”
The Devil withdrew his own sword and released a tidal wave of blackened fire. It tangled with the green, a battle between muted light and shadows. Cain, with the unconscious Lyra in hand, raced in from the distance, a scowl on his face.
“Why do I need to carry her?” the red robed reaper tossed the wolf-kin over his shoulder. Tied in place with a ribbon of red light, she resembled a humanoid backpack. “This woman is far heavier than she has a right to be… what’s with all the algae?”
“Algae…” Brull tilted his head and took another look at the green waters. “I guess you’re right… it’s a cloud of sentient algae.”
Lucifer’s flame carved a tunnel through the glow, wide enough for them to forge ahead. The cloud grew ever denser as they closed with the gate, until the Devil waved them to a halt.
“This is as far as I can take us,” The fallen angel scowled as he pumped more fire into the wall of algae. “They’re replacing themselves faster than I can burn them…”