Divine Memory Crystal

Date Unknown

Nyx-β: Chapter 2 Notes

Wow, so as I read back through these so-called notes, I can’t help but notice something.

“Alpha-me” was a raging asshole! Also, pretty short-sighted. It’s no wonder he couldn’t figure out how to solve his own problems.

Should have called himself “Asshole-Me.” Just saying.

Anyway, if you haven’t figured it out already, this is the “beta” Nyx – can’t say I love that name, though. And if you’re reading or seeing or remembering this, then I imagine you have a ton of questions. I mean, of course you do! We’re us, after all.

Maybe something like, “What the hell is going on here? Also, what was the purpose of Asshole-Me sending a message to himself? If he actually reincarnated, how would he even use that information? Wouldn’t he get a fresh vessel in another life or something? And if a younger, smarter, and much better-looking version of us received the memory crystal – which my existence would tend to imply – isn’t that just time travel?”

Well, Asshole-Me was wrong about a lot – and, I mean, a LOT – but he was right about one thing. The word choice is really up to you. I personally see this as a reincarnation story. Maybe an incredibly fucked up and non-traditional one, but honestly that just seems to be our brand.

Then there’s well… the dead sister in the memory crystal, isn’t there?

Yeah, I caught that slip up. I’m sure you did too.

Best I can tell, Leandra died during that first attack on Anchon – at least, in Asshole-Me’s version of the story. Her spirit corrupted, he took her into his empty, broken vessel, and the two of them still ended up in the gate with Fang.

My version had a few minor differences. First off, Leandra didn’t die! At least, not before I jumped into the gate. Instead, I received my corrupted spirit courtesy of a creepy, masked guy driving what I can only describe as a “death wagon.” He told me someone asked him to “help me.” I’m going to go out on an extra-dimensional limb here and guess that was Asshole-Me. As an aside, the wagon was over the top – leaning way too hard into the black and tortured-soul motif. Anyway, Emporos doesn’t really seem like the type to do anything for free, which really just begs the question: what’s in this for him? I still haven’t answered that one.

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Oh, and my gate was way harder. I don’t give a single rat shit what Asshole-Me said.

Right about now you’re probably saying something like, “Wait… if Asshole-Me sent Lili into the Flow with the crystal and Emporos delivered her, how did stuff that happened before that change? Besides, don’t vessels have spirits? So, if Leandra is still alive, does that mean she has two spirits? And… what happens if they touch? Would the whole Five Rivers explode? Also, doesn’t this seem like a huge crock of kraell shit?”

All fantastic questions! Unfortunately, the answers won’t really help you. “Oh, why’s that?” we would probably ask. Same answer. Because Asshole-Me was an idiot. And also, so are you actually. I bet you haven’t even thought of some of the better questions yet.

Like how did Asshole-Me give this crystal to Leandra? Can a spirit even carry a physical object through the Flow? And, if not, how the hell are we supposed to access it?

I know, as though we didn’t have enough questions, right? Either way, I’m sure you’ve realized by now that I don’t have a great way to relay relevant and practical information – assuming it would even apply to your version of the story anyway.

Although, I guess if I could give you some advice, it would be really simple. Don’t head north. That’s it. Pick literally any other direction. West, east, even back to Anchon. Maybe build a camp in the middle of the swamp – I hear it’s nice and wet this time of year.

And I can already anticipate our inevitable follow-up questions. Like, why not head north? How could this situation get any worse? Also, why should I trust you? Aren’t you just a beta version of Asshole-Me who keeps dodging our questions?

Well, first off, you can go fuck yourself. Or, um… actually, please don’t.

Theoretically possible, but the universe might explode.

Secondly – and I know this is going to be highly controversial – but there are, in fact, some questions that are definitely best left unanswered.

Like why has Fang been helping us? What’s in that stupid bag he carries around everywhere? Why doesn’t he want to go north? Is he hiding something? Possibly some deep, dark secret he’s been harboring for more than a dozen cycles?

You know, just some random questions. But you’ll probably discover the answers for yourself soon enough. Because I’ve always been a stubborn shithead.

And, as it turns out, some things never change.